A Hero's Ascent
by icaw98
Summary: Hex, Flameslinger, and Sophia  Stealth Elf  must go on a quest to stop Darko  Dark Spyro  from destroying the Skylands. Will they be able to end this havoc, or will the journey tear them apart?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 plus disclaimer.

Disclaimer, Spyro Skylanders does not belong to me, it belongs to Activision.

The Beginning…

The elfin Skylander heard the buzzing sound behind him as he ran. He knew that despite how quick he ran, he would not be able to escape them. He only wished that his best friend would get out of this alive… He and Sophia (Stealth Elf) had been sent to Stone Town to find Ozahkahn's Orb. The expedition had been going abnormally well for the duo up until the wasp's had found them. Once he and Sophia had been discovered, they were immediately overwhelmed.

"FlameSlinger!" a voice on his left called to him. FlameSlinger turned to see his best friend, Sophia, racing by his side.

"We're no match for them, we have to retreat!"

FlameSlinger knew that they were no match for the oversized bugs chasing them, but he still couldn't help but feel disappointed. He had failed his master. He turned to his friend and spoke up.

"We can't retreat now, we promised master Eon that we would find Ozahkahn's orb."

Sophia sighed, knowing better then to argue with her friend. She knew how disappointed he felt whenever he failed, and after the last mission he messed up, she knew he would do anything to redeem himself, even if he lost his life in the process.

The duo continued to run until Flameslinger stopped suddenly and confronted the wasps. Sophia, who was too caught up in running, did not notice her friend's absence until she had to stop to catch her breath. She turned and saw a wasp plunging towards her. Sophia raised her blade and hacked at the bug's throat the second it came in to her range.

Sophia turned looking for any sign of her friend, when all of a sudden she saw a swarm of wasps clumped in one area. Sophia charged toward the swarm knowing that her friend would be there. As Sophia neared the swarm, she saw lights rising and comets came crashing down on the bugs.

After the light dispersed, Sophia could see FlameSlinger covered in stingers. All around him were corpses of wasps, and standing by him was a she-elf Sophia had never seen before. Sophia sprinted over to where FlameSlinger was. She turned FlameSlinger towards her and gently shook him.

"FlameSlinger, wake up," Sophia whispered to him. FlameSlinger opened one of his eyes and muttered "Sophia…" before closing his eyes again. The stranger walked up to where FlameSlinger and Sophia were at. The stranger reached out to FlameSlinger and tore one of the stingers out of him.

The she-elf's ice cold eyes glared down at the stinger, as a drop of green liquid fell from it. "Just as I suspected" the stranger said "the stingers are poisoned." Sophia jolted her head toward the stranger when she heard that statement. Poison, her best friend was covered in poison stingers.

"He won't die will he?" Sophia blurted out before she could even think about what she was saying.

"The poison shouldn't kill him, but it could paralyze him for life and possibly blind him." The stranger responded still glancing at the stinger. She put the stinger in the pocket of her cloak before asking "Have you retrieved Ozahkahn's Orb?"

For some reason the question infuriated Sophia. A fellow SkyLander had been injured, and this stranger seemed to not care in the least. Sophia narrowed her eyes at the stranger before saying "no we couldn't retrieve it" The stranger glared at Sophia, but simply said "come on, we have to report to master Eon."

Sophia picked up Flameslinger and ran up to where the stranger was walking "who are you?" She asked. The stranger didn't look at Sophia when she answered. "My name is Hexsesia, but you will call me Hex." Sophia did not respond to Hex's arrogant tone; she simply concentrated on getting home, and getting her best friend to safety.


	2. Chapter 2

Sophia wandered aimlessly through out the marble columns of the ruins. When she returned home from the expedition she immediately ran to the hospital so she could get help for FlameSlinger. She had stayed by his side all night, while Miss Hexsesia, told master Eon about there failure to retrieve Ozahkahn's orb.

Sophia had left the hospital in the morning when Flameslinger told her to return home and get some rest. Being lost in her own thoughts she didn't here the alarm on her watch go off…

Cracky (Trigger Happy) and Gillie (Gil Grunt) stood trembling with there hands over there ears as there third companion continued to scream unyieldingly. Arkie (Wrecking Ball) there third companion, always had to do certain things at certain times, the only time he allowed this rule to broken was when he was sent on a mission. If Arkie's schedule was messed up in anyway everyone paid the price…

…and since it was 4:00 and his teacher was no were to be seen, his perfectly flowing schedule had been ruined. Just as Arkie was about to scream at a pitch not even scientists have ever heard of before, Sophia burst through the door. The earth shattering wail immediately ceased, and Arkie enthusiastically danced back and fourth.

"hey Arkie" Sophia called to her student "Do you want a cookie?" the grub's eyes widened an absurd amount before he leapt on top of his teacher and inhaled the bag of cookies she had. "Hey get off!" Sophia laughed as she shoved Arkie off of her.

"Isitover?" a voice from behind her asked. Sophia turned to see Cracky and Gillie standing, hands still covering there ears. "It's over" Sophia replied. Cracky unplugged his ears, screamed once, and then ran. Gillie followed him out. Sophia turned back to Arkie.

"Are you ready to begin your lessons?" Arkie nodded enthusiastically. "Good, now repeat after me." With that said Sophia began to sing "La, la. Fa, nah, la."

Arkie repeated the notes in a slightly screeching voice. "Very good now were going to_" before Sophia could finish her sentence an alarm blared. Arkie danced back and forth knowing that alarms meant missions. Sophia ran out of the shop where she and Arkie were practicing, and up to the central portal so she could reach the meeting place, Arkie followed her. Just as Sophia was about to reach the portal, she spotted her best friend in the crowds.

"FlameSlinger!" Sophia called running to where her friend was limping along. He had stolen crutches from the hospital so he could reach the portal. The hospital hadn't given the crutches freely to him because he was not supposed to be outside yet.

"Why are you out here?" Sophia asked exasperated. "I had to, come" Flameslinger replied. "It's my fault we couldn't find Ozahkahn's Orb, I have to redeem myself."

Sophia knew she couldn't stop her friend from coming, the best she could do was keep him close to her so she could look after him. "Very well then" Sophia said relenting "but stay close to me." "Yes mom." Flameslinger sarcastically grumbled.

When Sophia and Flameslinger reached the portal they saw Arkie waiting for them. "Why didn't you go through the portal?" Sophia asked. Arkie didn't reply, he simply waited for his friends to go through and then followed after them.

Noise, so much noise. Hex had never been in such a large meeting before, even before her misadventure in the under world she had always avoided crowds like the plague, had scorned the social groups at school, and was mortified when a boy she didn't even know asked her out on a date. Despite being a fully grown undead sorceress she still despised large crowds and loud noises. Leave all that to the narrow minded party folk, she would much prefer the company of books and the sound of silence.

She tapped her fingers nervously on the wooden desk where she sat. Why couldn't this meeting hurry up? The sooner it started the sooner it would end, and the second it was over she could, and would leave. Hex inwardly sighed with relief when the meeting was started. She dozed off until a few words caught her attention.

"Darko has been sighted roaming near the falling forests." Hex bolted upright, causing a good amount of Skylanders to look at her. She was grateful that her cloak hid the redness of her face as she blushed in humiliation. She turned away from the odd looks she was receiving as her mind flew in to a frenzy. She knew Darko, and had a personal score to settle with him.

"In better news we have a new ally to welcome amongst our team of SkyLanders, introducing Hex!"

Hex's mind froze when she heard her name, she drifted up to the stage and spoke "Um, hi everyone it's great to be in the skylands, and I look forward to serving you guys." There was absolute silence except for a few SkyLanders coughing, Hex felt like she was going to die.

Then suddenly two voices rang out. "Welcome to our team Hex!" Hex glanced down and saw Cynder and Gristine (Ghost Roaster) looking up at her. Upon hearing there voices other SkyLanders began to welcome her. When the commotion died down, Eon spoke once more "with today's business out of the way, the meeting is now adjourned."

Hex ran as swiftly as possible through the crowds, wanting to immediately reach her home. She had finally managed to get outside when a hand on her shoulder stopped her desperate sprint towards home. She whipped around to see Cynder and Gristine looking at her. "Hey, Hex we wanted to know if you could meet us at the SkyLand Café tonight."

"Well, um, I would love to join you two but, I'm really busy tonight, so I don't think it will be a good idea." Hex stammered out. Cynder looked slightly disappointed but didn't continue asking. "Well, perhaps you could join us another time?" Gristine asked. "Ok" Hex responded before continuing on her way home.

When Hex opened the door to her home, the first thing she noticed was a note on her desk. She drifted towards her desk and grabbed the note. The note said:

Hex, meet at Starway tower immediately.

Hex sighed for a moment before she made up her mind and drifted toward the StarWay tower.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hugo anxiously paced the floor, constantly asking Eon senseless and irritating questions. Eon knew better then to get mad at his partner though. Hugo was simply the anxious type and always would be.

"When do the skylanders get here Master Eon?" Hugo asked for the tenth time. Eon had his usual reply.

"Be patient Hugo, the SkyLanders always-"

The rest of Eon's response was cut short as a Skylander drifted in to the tower.

"Master Eon, you wanted to see me?" The skylander said bowing respectfully to her master.

"Rise up, Hex," Eon responded. Hex did as she was told.

"There are two others who must come before I can speak to you," Eon stated. Hex narrowed her eyes at this, but made no comment.

Hex did not have much time to wait before two others came through the door. Hex recognized Sophia, but did not know who the other one was.

Eon strode over to where the three skylanders were and spoke. "Hex, these two are Sophia and StumpSmash. You will accompany them on a mission to the falling forest. StumpSmash will be your guide."

"With all do respect to you and StumpSmash, shouldn't we rotate leaders on this mission?" Hex asked.

Sophia's eyes widened upon hearing this. "Don't question Master Eon, he is far more experienced then you are!" She hissed.

Everyone's eyes widened upon hearing Sophia's outburst, the only one who didn't stare in shock was Hex; she simply stared at the ground. Unable to meet there gazes Sophia turned away. She couldn't believe that she had blurted her thoughts out loud like that. there was just something odd about Hex that she didn't-No couldn't trust.

StumpSmash broke the awkward silence by saying "we should head to the portal now, the sooner we get to falling forest the better." "Why do we have to go to a portal?" Hex asked. No one answered her. StumpSmash walked out of the tower Hex and Sophia following behind him.

The portal that the trio stood before was huge. It radiated an emerald light; blue stars swirled at the entrance of the portal. The energies in this portal were of life, yet even Hex was drawn to it. One by one the trio marched in to the portal.

The forest that surrounded the trio was immense. The trees seemed to be climbing to the sky, so tall were the trees that the three skylanders couldn't even see the tops of them. A loud clattering sound drew Sophia's attention away from the sights of the forest. When she turned her head she saw swarm of wasps. Instinctively she raised her blade ready to hack at any who tried to harm her companions. To her surprise she saw Hex darting toward the center of the swarm. "NO!" Sophia shouted. The last time she had seen someone confront a swarm on there own was when her best friend FlameSlinger had been injured. The memory terrified her, and she was unable to move as terror froze her in her place. The wasps buzzed around her, and yet she could not react.

Sophia was so caught up in her memory that she had not seen the black speck that Hex was aiming for…

Hex turned and faced the swarm, ready to attack, however a familiar black scaled dragon had caught her attention. No… it can not be him… Hex thought to herself but she knew that it was him. Before she even knew what she was doing Hex found herself lunging toward Darko. The black scaled dragon heard her coming toward him. He stopped banging his tail against the wasp hive, and wacked Hex in the face. Hex flew backward hitting the ground harshly. She put a hand to her face and felt blood dripping from it.

Hex looked towards Darko, trying to force down the bitter feelings of betrayal. "Well, Hexsesia it appears we meet again." "Darko, you'll pay hell for what you did to me!" Hex shrieked. "Ugh, must all people act the same way when they see me a second time?" Darko grumbled. Hex shot a bolt of energy at Darko. Darko sidestepped the attack, and flew upwards. "Well I would love to catch up with you Hexsesia, but the wasps are gone, and won't fight anymore, not to mention your friends don't seem too happy to see me." With those words Darko flew off.

"Come back and fight me you black scaled vermin!" Hex roared. "He can't hear you. He's gone." Hex whipped around to see Sophia. Her eyes narrowed at the other girl and she spoke in an ice cold tone "I'm certain you're not to upset about that." Sophia tensed before asking "what do you mean?" "Gee maybe it was because you sat on your rear end and did nothing to help me fight him!" Hex shouted. Sophia gripped her blades tightly before screaming back at Hex "In case you didn't notice I was surrounded by wasps!"

"Why does this scenario sound familiar?" Hex snarled. "If you are referring to when FlameSlinger and I were attacked you might want to remember that you defeated the wasps single handedly and therefore should have been able to defeat Darko easily!" Sophia shrieked in reply. "You don't know how powerful Darko is, I do, and I know I couldn't defeat him on my own…" Hex's final words faded in to a whisper. Was it true she couldn't stop him on her own, or did she just want to believe she couldn't stop him…?

Sophia saw that Hex couldn't argue anymore. She smiled smugly at Hex before walking off to find StumpSmash. Suddenly her feet froze to the ground, she tried to move but found she could not, to her horror she saw ice slowly trailing up her body threatening to encase her in its cold embrace. Sophia gripped her blades and started hacking chunks of ice off her legs. Where were StumpSmah and Hex? She knew they would help her.

Sophia continued to hack at the ice until it fell of her legs entirely. She sighed with relief she was about to continue on her course to find StumpSmash when she felt something ram in to her, knocking her to the floor. The weight did not lift off of her even when she fell. She could feel nails scratching at her neck. ..

"Get off of me!" Sophia screamed. She turned over causing the creatures grip on her to loosen. She then raised her blade and brought it down on the creature's fingers causing her opponent to let go. Sophia whipped around to confront her attacker, and found herself staring at Hex. She couldn't stop her jaw from dropping. "What are you doing?" Sophia asked, suddenly more confused then angry.

Hex didn't reply she simply threw a bolt of energy at Sophia. Sophia leapt sky ward vanishing from Hex's sight. Hex looked around in confusion before she felt a weight slam in to her, she felt sharp stone cutting in to her ear and drawing blood, Hex chanted a spell that allowed her to slip away from Sophia. She then turned and lunged at the other elf tearing pieces of flesh from Sophia's face with her nails.

Sophia felt blood pour down from her face and drip in to her eyes. She figured she was going to be blinded, when suddenly the stinging strikes on her face stopped. She tried to locate Hex, but she was currently blind at the moment. "Sophia," the voice of StumpSmash whispered. "Follow me, I'll take you to the river so you can clean your eyes out." "Ok" Sophia whispered Horsley. She gripped her friends hand as he halfway dragged her to the river.

The two seemed to have forgotten about Hex who was struggling to keep up with them she heard a buzzing sound, but thought she was only hearing things after getting her ear cut. It was sundown when Hex finally caught up to StumpSmash and Sophia. She saw the two other skylanders huddled before a campfire; Sophia was curled up "presumably asleep" with bandages covering her eyes. StumpSmash was tending the fire "which was ironic considering he was the most flammable of the trio."

Hex watched them both for a moment before attempting to sneak in to the campsite unnoticed, unfortunately she stepped on a twig and StumpSmah heard her. He stared at Hex for a moment before saying "it's about time you showed up." Hex didn't reply. StumpSmash took this as an opportunity to continue speaking. "Would you care to tell me what you two were fighting about?"

Hex stared bitterly at him before saying "I don't know." What was worse was that Hex truly didn't know why she fought Sophia. All she understood was that she had felt so furious one moment, and the next she was lying on the floor, both her and Sophia scratched and beaten.

StumpSmash didn't believe this for a minute, but did not question her. Instead he said "I'll have to report your fight to master Eon." Hex froze at this, but nodded her head in agreement. She did wrong, and now she had to pay the price. "Come on," StumpSmash said "The river's just a few steps away you can go there to wash up." "Thanks." Hex whispered before drifting off to the river.

StumpSmash saw Sophia turn and then sit up. "Is she gone?" Sophia asked. "Yes." Her companion replied. Sophia pealed the bandages off her eyes so Stumpsmash could see if they were healed. There was slight scarring around her eyes but fortunately she would not go blind. There were long jagged scars climbing up the side of her face.

"Sophia, what were you and Hex fighting about?" Sophia looked down and StumpSmah figured he wouldn't get an answer, until Sophia spoke up "she accused me of not doing anything in the battle against Darko. I told her she should have been able to defeat him herself, considering she destroyed a whole swarm of wasps single handedly." Stumpsmash growled in frustration "I understand Hex's frustration, but what you said gave her no good reason to attack you!" "She's evil." Sophia stated bluntly.

Stumpsmash raised one eyebrow signaling for Sophia to go on. "I can't explain why I feel such fear towards her, I just do" Sophia said sadly. "Its okay for you to fear her, she is the polar opposite of us. But never attack her again. If she attacks you, run away and talk to another skylander about it. if you don't the skylanders may think you started the fight. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to get in trouble for something that wasn't your fault, and

Sophia nodded, but still looked troubled. The two companions wished each other good night, put out there campfire, and then fell asleep, completely forgetting there third companion.

Hex stood in the shadow watching her comrades sleep. She had heard every word they said about her. Tears leaped in to her eyes, and she angrily wiped them away. Why should she care about what others thought of her? Why did it matter?

Hex turned her face away from the duo hovering off to the stream. She splashed cold water over her face attempting to calm herself down. She was just about to dry her face when she heard a buzzing sound. She knew that a wasp was readying itself to strike her. Hex turned immediately readying a bolt of energy so she could shoot the wasp behind her. However before she could hit the bug, it landed at her feet and said "I surrender to you skylander."

Hex was astonished at the fact that the wasp could speak, and even more surprised that she knew about the skylanders. "What is it you want bug?" Hex asked sharply. The wasp who was completely unfazed said "I want you to help me track a black scaled beast by the name of Darko." Hex felt herself freeze up but to pleasure she didn't flinch.

"I'll help you" Hex said "but can you tell me what your name is, and how you know of the skylanders?" "My name is Stinga" said the wasp, "come with me and I'll tell you all I know about the skylanders."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hex and Stinga walked down the stream, as Stinga spoke of what she knew about the skylanders. Stinga told Hex about how her father had died in an attack on the hive. When her father lived he would tell Stinga and her brother Waspen, about noble heroes who protected the lands from evil, and made sure that the rules of justice and peace were enforced. The heroes Stinga's father told her about were none other then the skylanders. Ever since Stinga had heard those stories she and her brother had dreamed of being skylanders. When her father died Stinga set out to find the skylanders and prove herself worthy of joining them. Her brother, who was too young to go with her stayed back at the hive.

The night that Stinga left she made a promise to Waspen that she would come back as a Skylander and that he would become one as well. Often times Stinga had been at the ruins, where all the skylanders lived. She observed them from a far not daring to get to close. She told Hex about how she was afraid that the skylanders would not allow her to explain herself, and would kill her immediately just because she was a wasp.

Hearing Stinga describe the Skylanders as noble heroes made guilt flow through Hex as she remembered her attack on Sophia, she knew for certain that what she did wasn't a noble action. "_Well it's not our fault were not perfect, after all everyone has there_ _flaws._" She thought to herself, trying to persuade herself that she was right to attack Sophia, even though she knew she wasn't. Suddenly she thought back to how she once trusted Darko, and how he had betrayed her. _"Some more then others." "_Hex" Stinga called, "the sun is rising!" Hex cursed under her breath, she would have to get back to Stumpsmash and Sophia.

"Stinga will you come back to camp with me?" Hex asked. Stinga looked hesitant part of her knew that Hex's companions would probably kill her on sight, but another part of her yearned to meet other skylanders. After contemplating her choices for a moment Stinga said "I won't be able to follow you back, your friends might kill me. But I will trail behind you. Try to get your friends to let me meet with them." "Okay" Hex replied. She was tempted to tell Stinga that Stumpsmash and Sophia were not her friends but she decided against it considering that it was unimportant information.

Hex said farewell to Stinga and went back to camp.

Sophia opened her sleep blurred eyes and looked up to see Hex standing a slight distance away from were the trio had slept. Sophia did not remember seeing Hex before she went to sleep, so she came to the conclusion that Hex had returned to camp after she went to sleep. _"Or stayed the whole night away from camp"_ a voice in the back of her head nagged. Sophia silenced the voice before sneaking up to Hex "hey" Sophia said. Hex jumped a bit in the air before turning to her companion. "Hey" Hex responded. An awkward silence soon followed, Sophia not knowing what else to say and Hex not knowing why the other elf was talking to her.

"Sophia I need to speak to you and Stumpsmash about someone I met at the stream last night." So she was away from camp last night Sophia thought, struggling to push down her feelings of paranoia. "Who did you meet?" Sophia asked trying to keep this civil conversation with Hex going despite her feelings of unease. "She's a wasp by the name of Stinga; she has some information about Darko that may come in handy." Sophia's stomach dropped upon hearing the word wasp she didn't register the rest of what Hex said. In order to prevent Hex from noticing her unease, she said the first thing that came to her mind. "I might need help waking Stumpsmash." Sophia said automatically plastering a fake grin to her face "he sleeps like a log." Hex smirked at Sophia, despite the fact that the joke wasn't all that funny to her, the fact of the matter was that Sophia's joke was rather juvenile but Hex didn't want to start another argument.

Sophia and Hex marched over to where StupmSmash was sleeping; Hex mumbled a spell under her breath and bone sprouted up under StumpSmash, pushing him skyward. The skylander did not stir. "You have got to be kidding me." Hex muttered. "Stumpsmash wake up!" Sophia called. StumpSmash simply murmured in his sleep. Hex whose patient's was wearing thin finally shot a bolt of energy at her sleeping companion knocking him to the floor…

Sophia saw Stumpsmash's eyes fly open, she saw a look of panic in his eyes and saw that some of his bark was singed. Sophia subconsciously ran her finger along the scars across her face and cheeks, she watched her friend finally figure out where he was at, and calm down. Stumpsmash glared angrily at Sophia and Hex before shouting "What the hell was that for!" "Sophia said that it's hard to get you to wake up, so I decided to find out how hard it was for myself." Hex responded coolly. Stumpsmash's angry glare rested solely on Sophia now.

Sophia shuffled her feet uncomfortable and tried to redirect her friend attention to Hex. "Hex says she has someone who has to speak to us." Hex took this as her cue to speak up. "Yes but promise me that when I bring her to you, you won't kill her." "Why would we kill her?" Stumpsmash questioned. "Because she's a wasp." "Go on." Hex continued to speak. "She has information about Darko's whereabouts" "Bring her here." Stumpsmash ordered. Hex nodded then called out "Stinga!"

Suddenly a buzzing sound filled Sophia's ears and she looked up to see a wasp drifting towards them. The wasp landed on the ground and bowed before Sophia and Stumpsmash. "Great skylanders, I am so honored to be in your presence." There was something so sincere in Stinga's voice that Sophia found it hard not to trust her. _"She's just like us." _Sophia thought absentmindedly.

"Rise up Stinga." Stumpsmash said. "You know my name." Stinga said obviously pleased. "You wish to confront Darko you do, you are lucky to have me as a guide, and I am lucky to work amongst you, it is a fair trade. I can lead you to Darko's lair, I can." Stinga leapt in to the air and cried out, "follow me, follow me!" with that being said Stinga flew off, the three Skylanders following behind her.

The journey to Darko's lair took three weeks; over that period of time the three skylanders with the help of Stinga opened up to one another creating a strange, yet powerful trust between the three of them, even Hex was a part of that bond.

During the lag time in the journey Stumpsmash on the questioning of Stinga, told about his life in the enchanted forest were he used to live. He spoke of how it was before the trolls came along and ruined it, as they ruined him. Sophia spoke of how she never knew her birth parents, and how she became a skylander in hopes that on one of her missions, she would find them. Even Hex told about herself, she said that before her journey in to the underworld she had lived in a small fishing village which had been completely obliterated by an attack.

These memories left as Sophia's mind came back to the task at hand, sneaking in to Darko's lair. Sophia had to admit Darko was cunning. This even showed by Darko's choice of a hideout. Darko's lair was a cave secluded at the far end of the forest. Boulders blocked people and other animals from intruding in the cave, only following a certain path that Darko himself created could get anyone close to his home. The entrance of the cave was covered in vines of thorns, Sophia wondered how Darko got in with out being cut up. Do to how well hidden it was, the group would have walked passed the cave multiple times if it weren't for Stinga. The trio had many things to thank her for.

Sophia saw a bolt of energy strike the thorns, creating a gap in the wall, the gap was large enough for her, Hex, and Stinga to fit through. But Stumpsmash was too big, so he volunteered to guard the entrance. Hex entered the hole calmly as if this was a casual visit to a friend's home. Sophia followed through cautiously, Stinga trailed behind her.

The inside of Darko's home was much lager then the entrance. There was a ring of stalagmites in the back of the cave; inside the ring were various plants. Some were fresh and others were slightly wilted. There were stalactites in various spots on the ceiling of the cave. And on the floor in the center of the cave, a stone pedestal stood. On top of the pedestal was an artifact that Sophia was well acquainted with.

"Ozahkahn's orb" Sophia and Hex gasped in unison. "Yes it is a splendid thing isn't it?" a voice asked. Sophia, Hex and Stinga looked up to see silhouette clinging to a stalactite. The shadow released its grip and dived to where the three girls were standing. The shadow revealed itself to be Darko. Darko blew black fire at them. The three girls dodged his attack and Hex hurled a bolt of energy at him. Darko flew underneath the bolt, snatched the orb of Ozahkahn and flew out through the gap in the thorn wall. Hex, Sophia, and Stinga followed him out.

Darko blew black flames at StumpSmash. Though not as agile as the other three, Stumpsmash still managed to block Darko's attacks. He aimed a blow at Darko's head attempting to crush his skull, but the black dragon dodged it easily. Darko flew around Stumpsmash forming a ring around his opponent. Suddenly the ring ignited burning StumpSmash. The tree warrior screeched in agony. The black flames did not hurt Stumpsmash physically that badly. It was the images inside the flames that made him feel so much pain.

He saw his home being torn apart by trolls; he saw the wasps that once stayed out of the way suddenly turn blood hungry, worst of all he saw his fiancé Willow snatched away from him. The memories were too much for him to bear. He closed his eyes and drifted in to a forlorn sleep.

Sophia couldn't believe how easily her friend had been defeated. Stumpsmash was stronger then that! Sophia was jarred from her thoughts as Darko lunged toward her. Sophia dodged Darko's attack, managing to slash at his leg with her blade. Darko drew his leg back before spitting black fire at Sophia. Sophia leaped in to the air to avoid the flames. She attempted to land on Darko, but he flew out from under her. Sophia landed on the ground, searching for Darko when she heard a voice scream" Sophia, look out!"

Stinga saw Darko lunging toward Sophia, claws extended ready to deliver the killing blow. Stinga considered hurling one of her poison stingers at him, but she knew that it wouldn't stop the black beast. Stinga knew what must be done. She inhaled sharply, before hurling herself towards Darko. She saw cruel, hideous claws coming toward her; she felt them tearing open her stomach. She collapsed on the ground before feeling Darko's teeth bite in to her neck. Suddenly she was flying through the air and crashed against a rock wall. "Stinga!" her friends called out. Stinga smiled for a moment, touched by the skylanders concern for her, then she closed her eyes.

Hex fired bolt after bolt of energy at Darko. She wanted that traitor dead and out of her life. She let her hatred fuel her attacks, but when they struck her target, Darko was perfectly unscratched. Darko clutched Ozahkahn's orb close to him, and chanted a spell. A burst of light surrounded him, and then he was gone. Hex collapsed to the floor, disgusted at herself, how could she fail again?

"Hex!" Sophia called. Hex was tempted to ignore her and continue wallowing in her self loathing, but decided against it and reluctantly approached Sophia. Her companion was standing over a wasp who had become a friend to Hex over the past three week's. "No… it can't be… it just can't…" Hex muttered. "It is." Sophia choked out. Lying at the floor bloodied and beaten was there friend Stinga. The wasp stirred suddenly, and spoke without opening her eyes. "Hex, Sophia, it was such an honor to have known you, but our time together has come to an end." The wasp coughed violently, blood dripping from her mouth but she continued to speak. "I know you have much… much to do, but may you grant me my dying wish?" "What is it?" Sophia asked. "I need you… to, to find my brother… grant him his wish of becoming a Skylander." "We will" Hex said. Stinga opened her eyes to look upon her friends one last time, and whispered the words, "Thank you…" the wasp shuddered violently for a moment and then lay still.

Sophia walked up to Stinga, and gently closed the wasp's eyes. Sophia wanted to make some kind of monument to honor there fallen friend. Suddenly she felt the earth tremble beneath her feet, and bones sprouted up around her dead friend. Sophia immediately understood that Hex, in her own way, was trying to create a monument for Stinga.

Sophia touched the ground around the monument, and felt the life of a seed burrowed deep in the ground. She felt her life connect to the seed, and felt the plant inside the seed stirring. Sophia used the energy inside her to make the plant grow. A long vine like plant grew out of the ground entwining around the bone monument. Sophia glanced at Hex. The undead sorceress nodded in approval. The two girls took a moment to say goodbye to Stinga before going to look for Stumpsmash.

Stumpsmash felt a sharp kick to his side before opening his eyes. "Get up!" a harsh voice demanded. Stumpsmash looked up to see Hex and Sophia standing over him. Stumpsmash attempted to get up, but could not. Hex grabbed his arm roughly and yanked him upwards. "Did you beat Darko?" Stumpsmash asked. "What do you think?" Hex spat. "No" Hex turned away from her companion before saying, "were going home now, we failed again."

"Where is Stinga?" Stumpsmash asked. "Stinga is dead!" Hex replied "now come on." The trio was silent after that exchange. They remained silent on the whole journey home


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Where is she?" Flameslinger thought aloud to himself. He knew that the three Skylanders had returned because he saw Stump smash earlier that morning. He however saw no sign of Sophia. Over the course of the four weeks; his best friend was gone, he had fully recovered from the paralyzing affect of the poison, and was able to walk without crutches again. The minute he heard word of the trio's return, he had been all over town trying to locate Sophia. So far, he had no luck.

Flameslinger was walking through the center of town when he came across Zap, Bash, Gillie, and Cracky. The four skylanders each had an ice-cream cone in their hands and were absent-mindedly licking their treats, when Flameslinger leapt toward them.

"Have any of you seen Sophia?" He asked with a nervous tone.

"She was hanging out with Arkie the last time I saw her," Zap informed.

Flameslinger breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, do you know where she is now?"

"Probably at dew Drop Lake," Bash said. Flameslinger thanked the four skylanders one last time before running off to Dew Drop Lake.

Sophia sat at the edge of the lake, letting its refreshing waters lap at her feet. She sighed sadly as she stared at her reflection. Ugly jagged scars crawled beneath her eyes and across her cheeks. She wanted to see her best friend again, but she didn't want him to see her. A single tear trickled down her cheek, traveling along her scar. She heard a panting sound and noticed Arkie run up to her with an excited smile spread across his little face. The grub dropped a fly, a river weed, a stick, and a stone at her feet and then looked up at her questioningly. Sophia smiled at her friend but shook her head no.

Arkie lowered his head sadly, and then ran off to collect more items for her. Sophia felt guilty for rejecting her friend's gifts; Arkie was just trying to cheer her up. She sighed sadly again as she realized nothing would cheer her up right now. A tap on her shoulder jarred her out of her thoughts. Sophia turned around to see the face of her best friend.

"Hey," Flameslinger said.

Sophia tried to hide her scars from his gaze. "Hey."

Flameslinger sat down next to Sophia in the lush, green grass. "Where have you been?"

"The falling forest, tracking Darko." Sophia responded.

"Why didn't you come see me when you returned?"

Sophia had no clue how to answer that question, so she simply stayed silent.

"Are you going to come back home soon?" Flameslinger questioned.

Sophia put her small hand on his. "Yes."

Flameslinger smiled at his best friend and put his arms around her in a delicate hug.

"Come on," he said as he stood up.

Sophia smiled at him following him back. Arkie saw his two friends together, widened his mouth to a grin, and danced back and forth enthusiastically.

The minute Hex returned to the ruins, she immediately ran to her home. Hex wallowed in self pity and grief for Stinga for three whole hours before trying to locate Darko. She had a few ideas as to where the black dragon was hiding, but she wanted to be certain before trying to hunt him down, after all she didn't want to waste time searching for him in areas he wasn't at.

Hex drifted over to where her desk was. On the desk was a skull, Hex picked up the skull placing it over her head. Hex adjusted the skull on her head until its eyes fit over her own eyes. "Skull of Jasya," Hex chanted. "Give your eyes to me, and I give mine to you, grant me your wisdom and knowledge." The skull glowed acknowledging Hex's words. "Where is Darko?" Hex questioned. The skull glowed creating images in Hex's mind.

Hex saw a citadel shrouded in black and purple mist. She had never been to the citadel before, but she knew it was the lair of Kaos. In the corner of the main throne room, Darko was sprawled on his side. At his side the orb of Ozahkahn lay. Hex saw Darko staring intently in to the orb.

A shock ran through Hex as she realized that Darko had been spying on them. She hastily took Jasya's skull of her head, thanked the spirit of Jasya, and went to pack some supplies for her trip to Kaos's lair. Hex was determined to beat Darko this time. Suddenly Hex's door bell rang. Hex contemplated about answering the door. She really didn't want to interact with anyone right now. "Who's there?" Hex called. "It's Gristine." A voice called back.

Hex fluttered to the door and allowed Gristine to come inside. "What do you want Gristine?" Hex asked. "Cynder and I wanted to know if you could hang out at the café with us." Hex considered it for a moment before saying "I just got back home and I kind of want to stay here for a bit."

"Why are you packing supplies for a journey then?" Gristine asked. Hex paused for a moment, realizing that she did need a break before going after Darko. Hex didn't answer Gristine's question. Instead she said

"I'll come with you to the Café."

Gristine smiled and said "excellent, let us be on our way then."

The café was a peaceful place on one side, and on the other side sheer madness. The peaceful side had walls painted a vibrant yet soft shade of pink, there was a jukebox that played soothing music, and the booths looked like seats at a fancy restaurant in stead of simple café furnishing. The other side however was most likely for the geeks and drunkards. The walls on the other side were painted a vibrant shade of dark blue. There were various arcade games on that side, a bar, and for some reason a ball pit. Hex spotted Eruptor and Boomer playing in the ball pit. When Hex and Gristine took there seat, they were immediately greeted by an over enthusiastic Cynder.

"Oh hi guys! You came! I didn't expect Hex to come, but you did come. It's great to see you!"

"It's great to see you to Cynder." Hex responded politely. In truth Cynder's quick stream of babble gave her a headache. But Hex was grateful for the support Cynder often offered her.

"Here have a menu" Spyro said passing the menu over to where Hex was sitting. Hex took the menu ordered her meal and then passed most of the wait conversing with the three others she was with.

"So Hex did you defeat Darko?" Cynder asked suddenly. There was a hint of desperation in the dragoness's voice. Hex understood, after all Cynder had also had a horrible experience with Darko.

"I'm sorry Cynder; Darko is still out there somewhere." Cynder's eyes turned black, she snapped them shut quickly and said "okay"

Hex felt bitter disappointment flood her again and suddenly felt sick. She knew that she was about to freak out. She had no clue why her panic attack decided to strike her now, but knew that if she didn't leave quickly she would create a scene, and she didn't want to put up with getting a lot of attention.

"I have to go." Hex said to her companions, desperate to get away.

"But Hex, you haven't eaten yet." Gristine said. "Please stay." Cynder said.

"I'm sorry, but I have to leave." Hex choked out. With those final words Hex ran home.

Cynder watched as Hex ran away, and guilt immediately flooded her. She knew that Hex was secretly terrified of Darko, and Hex had great reason to be scared of him. Darko had after all been the one to take Hex to Maleafor. Guilt tore at Cynder as she remembered her own role in Hex's torment at Maleafor's hands. She pushed those thoughts away as she tried to resolve her dilemma. Cynder wanted to go after Hex and apologize, but she couldn't leave Gristine, and Spyro.

"I have to find Hex. I'll pay for her meal as well as my own so you guys don't have to pay extra money. I guess I'll bring her food to her as well so that she doesn't go hungry. " Cynder said to her two friends.

Gristine and Spyro nodded in agreement, signaling that Cynder should check up on the undead sorceress.

"Okay and can you ask her when we should meet up again?" Gristine asked.

"Sure." Cynder replied.

The waiter brought the food that Hex and Cynder ordered, and Cynder requested a too go bag. She then picked up the two meals, and flew off to find Hex.

Hex slammed the door to her home shut. Tears streaming down her face, her body heaved as she gasped for air. She knew that she was having another panic attack, and tried desperately to get it under control. These attacks have happened to Hex ever since the attack on her village, and they had progressively gotten worse since she journeyed to the Underworld. Hex eventually gave up on trying to calm her hysteria, knowing all to well that any trick she tried wouldn't work. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to control her emotions made her feel much worse. Sixteen years of disappointment, bitterness, guilt and grief had finally taken its toll on her. Hex weakly walked over to her desk, and picked up the skull of Jasya. She then hurled the skull across the room. The skull hit a book shelf with a loud thump, causing books to rain down on to a messy pile.

Hex kicked her desk across the floor. Her foot ached, and yet she did not care. She hurled bolts of energy every where destroying everything in sight. She screamed and lashed out like a wild animal, not caring that her home was practically ruined now. She screamed a loud harsh scream that shattered her collection of glass plates, as well as her window. She finally stopped wailing, her throat to hoarse for her to continue. She walked shakily over to a corner and collapsed on the heap of books there. She curled in to a ball and rocked herself back and forth unable to stop weeping. Her body shook and she could hardly breathe. Oh how she loathed these hysteria attacks.

Hex heard a clicking sound at the far side of the room, but didn't move.

"Hex…" a frightened voice called out.

"Go away Cynder!" Hex screamed. "Haven't you done enough?"

"I'm sorry Hex I shouldn't have mentioned D- um, you know who."

"No you shouldn't have."

"Is there any way I can help you Hex?" Cynder asked.

"You can help by leaving."

"I'm not leaving you like this." Cynder said angrily. "Look at this place!"

Hex managed to get control of her shaking enough to look up and look around at her home. It looked like a hurricane had hit, leaving her once well kept house a complete and utter rubbish heap.

"Ugh, I'm such a screw up." Hex groaned sadly.

Cynder slapped Hex on the side of the face with her tail. Hex looked up at Cynder, and then touched her face. She felt blood dripping from her cheek. "

What the hell was that for?" Hex shouted.

Cynder grinned at Hex. "It was to get you to stop moping."

Despite how horrible she felt, Hex couldn't help but smile. Cynder always knew the best way's to rouse Hex's spirit. "Well what now?" Hex asked.

"Maybe we should clean your house up" Cynder suggested.

"Yeah I guess I'll get started on cleaning up." "I'll help you, Cynder said.

"You really don't have to." Said Hex. Cynder just stared at her friend for a moment, and then she walked over to a pile and started to organize some books.

It took seventeen hours of straight clean up, but the two girls finally got Hex's house back to normal. Or at least as normal as it could be with half of Hex's inventory destroyed. Hex and Cynder sat side by side, enjoying the meal that Cynder had brought them, when a piece of paper fell from one of the bookshelves. Cynder picked up the note and spoke to Hex.

"Hex I found a note for you, it's from Master Eon."

Hex fluttered up, and took the note from Cynder. Aloud she read "Hex, meet at Starway tower…" Hex didn't bother to read the rest of the note before setting it on fire.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Hex entered the Starway tower obviously very late. Hex had purposely gone as slow as she possibly could have while still moving. She had even considered walking backwards away from the Starway tower, but decided against it, not wanting to make and even bigger fool out of herself. She glanced over to see who she would be accompanying. To her dismay she saw Sophia. The skylander next to Sophia was no doubt the fool she rescued from the wasps, Flameslinger.

"Hex you are late." Eon said.

_Well duh. _ Hex thought to herself. She was tempted to point out to Eon that it was his fault for giving people notes with no specified time on them, However that would make her situation even worse, so she simply said

"I'm sorry master Eon."

"Hex you will accompany Sophia and Flameslinger to confront Darko at Kaos's lair." Eon replied not even acknowledging Hex's apology.

"Your portal is at the balcony"

The three skylanders marched to where the portal was at.

"Why do we even have that portal?" Hex asked wondering why they needed a portal to a place that was abandoned most of the time. Once again no one answered her.

Once the three Skylanders were gone, Cynder slipped out from between the curtains she was hiding behind.

"You wanted me to stay hidden master Eon, why? She asked. Eon turned to face the young dragoness.

"I have a special mission for you Cynder, I want you to follow Flamslinger's group and observe them, do not reveal your self to them unless they are in severe peril."

"You want me to spy on them." Cynder gasped. She didn't want to spy on Hex it felt like she was betraying her friends trust.

"Cynder I understand you feel like your betraying them, but your not. It's for there sake that you are to observe them."

"Okay master Eon." Cynder said hesitantly. She still felt guilty, but knew she had no choice in the matter. She hurled herself in to the portal hoping to catch up to her friend.

Sophia spun violently through the portal, this was her third time going through this portal, and yet going through it still sickened her. She briefly wondered how, Hex who had never been in this portal before, was holding up. Her thoughts drifted away from Hex as she concentrated on not being sick. It was hard to settle her stomach though. She felt as if she were being torn apart and reassembled in the wrong order by the angry red and black energies of this portal. Flameslinger looked even worse then Sophia felt, his face had turned a pale shade of green, and he seemed to be trying not to puke. In comparison to Flameslinger, Hex looked perfectly okay, her eyes narrowed in immense concentration.

Suddenly the red and black energy vanished and Sophia saw grey stone ground. "Oh no." Sophia said as she plummeted to the ground, landing sharply on her back. She was lucky compared to her companions who were spat on to the floor, the two other skylanders slid across the ground earning multiple scratches. Sophia closed her eyes, trying to stop the world from spinning around her.

Hex was lying on her side narrowing her eyes in an effort to get them to focus on one object. Flameslinger limped off to a side and started violently puking.

Sophia finally opened her eyes and was hit by a wave of vertigo. She quickly forced down her discomfort and went to see if her companions were alright. Flameslinger who had finally gotten control over his stomach, stood up and shakily walked over to where Sophia was at. The two elves then walked over to where Hex seemed to be asleep at. "Hex, wake up." Sophia said.

"How can you wake up if you're not asleep?" Hex grumbled. She then pushed herself to an upright position and joined her comrades.

The trio slowly traveled to where the main throne room was at, occasionally puking, or collapsing. They finally managed to reach the throne room, shoving open the door, surprised that it wasn't even locked. Darko sat up and faced his opponents before arrogantly exclaiming

"It's about time you got here." Sophia and Hex attempted to glare intimidating at Darko, which was hard to do considering how weak they were right now.

"Yeah, can we just get this over with? This is honestly your saddest attempt yet. I'm surprised you're actually capable of being more pathetic then you already are." Darko taunted.

Hex screamed in fury. She summoned a large bolt of energy and hurled it at Darko. Darko stunned by the sudden attack was unable to dodge and was sent flying in to the wall.

The black dragon collapsed once he hit the wall. Hex advance towards Darko eyes blazing. Today he would die. Darko ran away from Hex before she could throw an energy bolt, and straight towards Sophia.

"Where do you think your going you little rat?" Sophia snarled raising her blades and hacking at Darko's face .Darko backed a few steps away from the enraged elf, and then raised his hand catching a blade before it could strike him. He threw the blade and Sophia across the room.

Flameslinger, who was running towards Darko, stopped and ran to where Sophia was lying dazed. Hex noticed that Flameslinger left Darko to see if Sophia was alright. For some reason this infuriated her, but she refocused her mind on her task and rained comet skulls down on Darko. Darko dodged all the skulls Hex sent at him then spread his wings and flew towards the roof.

Sophia and Flameslinger ran to attack Darko, but stopped as the ground shook violently. Flameslinger fell on the floor, but Sophia kept running towards Darko. Darko mean while was chanting a spell as Hex tried to hit him. "Zek Nau To Mah Nay Hah." Darko chanted. Despite how strange the words sounded Sophia knew exactly what they meant; she even heard the translation in her mind.

"_Winds of the gods hear my command…_" for some reason Sophia recognized this spell, and knew it was cast to help someone escape from a dangerous situation. Sophia had no time to wonder where this knowledge had come from, but she knew she had to concentrate on stopping Darko. Sophia couldn't let the black scaled beast escape again, not after what he had done to Stinga. Sophia screamed with murderous rage, and lunged at Darko attempting to shred him with her blades, or at the very least cut off his spell. But Darko kept chanting the spell, and to Sophia's surprise when she got near him, Darko grabbed her puling her close to him. He wrapped his wings around her, managing to stay in the air threw the use of magic, and chanted his spell in her ear, his voice changing to a seductive tone.

In her shock, Sophia's grip on her blades loosened. The blades fell to the floor almost striking Hex and Flameslinger. A cold chilling horror flooded Sophia as a bright light glowed around her and Darko. The two opponents started to fade away… Just as the Darko and Sophia were about to vanish, a magical hand reached down grabbing Ozahkahns orb and bringing it to the light. Darko brought the orb close to him, and blue, black and purple lights swirled around him, Sophia, and the orb. Hex lunged trying to reach the orb, while Flameslinger desperately tried to shoot Darko, in an effort to save Sophia, but he was too late, Sophia and Darko had vanished... "NO!" Flameslinger wailed grief flooding through him. His best friend had been taken by a monster; and he couldn't save her. Thoughts of the hell Darko could put Sophia assailed his mind. He dropped his bow to the floor as the grief weakened him; he then ran over to where his best friend's blades lie and grabbed them. The world spun around him as he realized the blades were all he had left of Sophia now… "No, no, no, no, no" Flameslinger repeated rocking himself back and forth, clutching tightly to the blades as tears of grief streamed down his face.

Hex stared at the empty space where Darko once hovered, numbness seeping in to her sore and battered body. Her self esteem had fallen to an all time low after watching Darko escape yet again. She had failed to beat Darko, for the third time. She was so convinced that this was the day he would be out of her life for good, and she had reveled in that thought. After loosing her home to the undead, the sole goals in her life had been to save Cynder when she found out the black dragoness had been corrupted, and to kill Darko and Malefor. Those goals had given her hope when she felt she couldn't go on any longer, and now it seemed that Darko would never stop tormenting her. "_I'm always so convinced that he will fall when ever I fight him. Yet he always wins our battles… am I destined to live my life under his cursed gaze? Will I ever be free of him?_" these thoughts tore at Hex, almost causing her to go insane yet again. Despite these horrid thoughts running rampant in her mind, no emotion stirred inside Hex. She felt as if her spirit had turned to ice, and no emotion could warm it. In a way she didn't believe that this fight against Darko had even occurred. Suddenly Hex heard the throne room doors slam open and a savage wind rushed towards her knocking her to the other side of the room.

"Shit!" Hex screamed. The ice wall around her soul melted as fury flooded her. She franticly griped at the ground trying to prevent herself from blowing any farther. The ground beneath her trembled and cracked, as multiple stones flew in to the air breaking the ceiling as they went. Then a chunk of the ceiling caved in, almost landing on Hex. She scrabbled over to where Flameslinger was and shouted at him.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!"

"No not with out Sophia!" Flamslinger cried.

"Damn it Flameslinger, move!"

"No we have to wait for Sophia." Flameslinger responded, a mixture of fury and grief coating his voice.

Hex could see there was no point in arguing. Yet with chunks of ceiling raining down on the duo, and the floor being torn apart beneath them, Hex knew it was too dangerous to stay. Making up her mind Hex roughly grabbed FlameSlinger roughly by his ears, and set to dragging him to the portal. Flameslinger screamed and lashed out at Hex, using Sophia's blades to hack at her face.

Hex ignored her pain and frustration continuing to drag her distraught companion to the portal. She vowed that the next time she fought Darko he would pay hell for what he was putting her through.

Cynder had observed the fight from afar as Eon instructed her to do. She watched Sophia be captured by Darko, and watched the throne room be torn apart by a savage wind. Cynder wondered if she had interfered, would Sophia have been taken? Cynder continued to tell herself that she hadn't helped the trio fight Darko because Eon told her not to. The reality was that Cynder did not fight Darko because she was afraid. She was a coward and nothing more….

Cynder mentally kicked herself in the head. Now was not the time to dwell on failure! Cynder raced towards the portal, stopping as she saw volts of energy flying off of it. The portal was expanding and contracting, it also twisted in to weird shapes. Cynder had no clue what was happening, but hurled herself in to the portal. The only thing on her mind now was she had to report to her Master.

Hex finally managed to reach the portal, there were tears in her cloak, her arms, legs, and face had numerous gashes on them, her right ear was ringing like a doorbell and she felt like she had been dragging a two-thousand pound boulder instead of a ninety pound Skylander. Other then that Hex was perfectly alright. The portal however was not. Volts of energy sparked around it, and it writhed in a violent and angry manner. Hex could easily compare it to Flameslinger at the moment. Hex dragged Flameslinger through the portal, just about ready to die.

The portal teleported the Skylanders to the Starway tower. More specifically they were teleported to Eon's study. Hex looked around to see Hugo, Eon, and Cynder staring at her and Flameslinger. Hex briefly wondered what Cynder was doing in Eon's study, but came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth thinking about. Hex was so exhausted that she didn't even want to kill Darko anymore, she simply wanted to sleep.

Hex, lowered herself to the floor not trusting in her ability to stand anymore. There was an uncomfortable silence. Hex knew her master was waiting for something, but she didn't know what. So she just dozed off, barely able to keep her eyes open. Suddenly Flameslinger stepped forward and began to speak.

"We confronted Darko but we lost, he took Ozahkahn's orb with him, and he also took… he took…" Flameslinger started to choke up and could barely continue speaking. He took a few moments trying to continue speaking.

"He took what?" Hugo asked looking completely clueless.

"Sophia!" Flameslinger wailed collapsing on the floor and sobbing. He was starting to hyperventilate. "She's gone, she's gone. It's all my fault! Why did I have to fail her?" He continued to scream his grief out loud. Hex felt like screaming to but for a different reason. She had failed once more in her seemingly endless war against Darko.

"_Well, well, well, my dear Hexsesia. It seems you have finally lost it…"_ The voice of Darko taunted cruelly. Hex gripped her head roughly, her nails scoring gashes in to her scalp. She was being driven insane, but she knew if she could hold on for a while she would be alright. "_Will you be alright? You seem to think you'll be fine, yet you always think you will kill me and look who's beaten and bloodied at the end of the fight. Not I, it is you Hexsesia who has lost!"_ Darko's voice continued to taunt her. Shut up. Hex snapped fiercely. SHUT UP!

The others in the room with an exception of Flameslinger, looked at Hex like she was insane. Hex didn't care, she was insane, and she knew it. Suddenly all resistance inside Hex died down. She screamed a loud horrible piercing wail, and bolted towards the door. She cleared out of the Starway tower in a few desperate bounds. She ran passed Gristine who said hello to her, but she ignored him screaming furiously and bawling her eyes out.

Hex knew that if she left the Skylands she could never return. If she did return she would risk being put in to an asylum not to mention she would live in humiliation for the rest of her life if she stayed. She didn't want that, she would rather die then be put in the insane asylum, and she would also rather die then face life long humiliation. Hex collapsed on the ground in a grassy clearing. She had fled miles away from the ruins, and now lay on lush grass by a small cave... Silent tears streamed down her face, but ceased quickly. She didn't even have enough energy to cry anymore.

Hex was tempted to just lie there, but she knew one last thing had to be done before she could go rogue. Hex limped over to the cave in the clearing and decided to spend the night there. She then took a piece of parchment out of the pocket of her cloak, and began to write.

_**Master Eon, I am honored to have served you and the skylander's for the short time I was with you. I write to you now saying I must resign. I am no longer fit for the position you have given to me, and I believe it is for the best of everyone that I no longer live in the ruins with you guys. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. I wish for this resignation letter to be effective immediately. **_

It was hard for Hex to write those final lines, but she knew it must be done. Hex chanted a spell that would send the letter to her former master. As she felt the letter slip from her grasp, and saw the letter disappear in a burst of light, she knew there was no way for her to turn back now. She sighed sadly once more before closing her eyes, and embracing the darkness.

Flameslinger lay on his back in his room reflecting on what had happened. He still couldn't believe she was gone… tears sprung to his eyes as he thought Sophia's fate. He couldn't stop thinking about her, despite how much the memories hurt him. He clung to those various memories, because they were all he had left of his best friend. Flameslinger didn't know he was sobbing again until he heard weird animal like noises, and realized he was the source of the sound.

He curled up on himself, trying to stop crying before he made himself sick again. He grabbed at his pillow pretending that it was Sophia. He held it close to him and rocked the pillow back and forth. Part of his mind realized how stupid this was, and with that realization Flameslinger screamed loudly and then threw his pillow across the floor.

He rocked back and forth singing Sophia's favorite song out loud yet quietly to himself, often butchering the lyrics with sobs that occurred randomly. Flameslinger finally couldn't take it anymore. He ran downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. He trembled as he thought of plunging it in to his heart. He considered that option before realizing that Sophia would not want him to die of grief for her.

His eyes widened, he scraped some flesh off his wrist with the knife, and then stopped. What was he doing? He screamed and flung the knife across the kitchen floor. He clutched at his bloodied wrist and sobbed uncontrollably. He limped back up to his room and collapsed on his bed. He had failed her, and if that wasn't bad enough, he practically insulted everything she lived for by attempting to throw away his own life.

As the night wore on, Flameslinger had finally fallen asleep. He couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. He still whimpered slightly in his sleep but that was to be expected after all that had happened. In his dreams he saw Sophia; he tried to call out but could not make a sound.

Sophia stared at the large cave entrance. That very entrance could have been her exit, if it wasn't a death sentence. The cave Sophia was in was perched high up on a slippery and icy cliff. If Sophia tried to climb down the wall of the cliff, she would slip and fall to her doom. She tried to keep calm, and yet half the time she was here, she felt like screaming. What distressed her most was that Darko was doing nothing.

"What will he do to me?" "Why did he bring me here?" "What is he planning to do?" All these questions ran through her head, and many more. She felt herself freezing, in this icy realm. Darko had offered her nothing warm, he kept what miniscule warm things there were to himself, which consisted of a red robe he draped over himself. Sophia suddenly wondered if his plan was to have her freeze to death. What a bleak fate she was condemned to.

Sophia tried to keep her spirits high, praying that someone would find and save her, but that was foolish hope. Sophia whipped around as she heard Darko stir. The black dragon advanced towards her, purring the words

"Come here bitch."

Sophia stepped backwards trying to stay away from Darko, suddenly she felt her foot slide slightly and dangle in mid-air.

"You may not want to do that" Darko suggested scornfully.

Sophia put her foot back on solid ground and leapt over Darko, sending herself to the back of the cave. Darko once again advance on her. Sophia wanted to attack Darko, but that was useless without her blades. So she simply let Darko come to her.

"What do you want?" Sophia asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling.

"Oh to do something for you."

Darko lunged forward, and grabbed Sophia's face with his claws. Again Sophia felt a cold shock run through her.

Black light radiated from his claws, as he touched Sophia's face. Sophia felt like her face was freezing off. She trembled slightly, feeling as if cold needles were being shoved in to her face. The sensation burned her slightly, and made her feel weak. Sophia was on the verge of fainting, when the sensation abruptly ended. Darko released his grip on Sophia, and shoved her to where a patch of ice lay on the floor of the frozen cave. Sophia turned to face the patch of ice, and looked at her reflection. She gasped when she saw her scars were gone. Darko walked up to her and said

"Now that I have done something for you, you have to do something for me." Sophia knew where this was heading.

"NO!" Sophia snarled.

Darko's face twisted in an expression of hatred, and then he smirked. The black dragon lunged on top of Sophia, digging his claws in to her back, and tearing at her flesh. Sophia could feel the heat from his body and was almost tempted to let him have his way with her just so she could be warm. "_No!" _her mind wailed. Sophia brought her hand up, and gashed at Darko's eye with her nails. Darko screamed furiously, before falling off of her. Sophia ran to the cave entrance, stopping herself just before she plunge over the edge. She stared down at the cold snow swirling below her. In the background she could hear Darko screaming at her, and calling her by many awful names. She didn't care though all she cared about was getting home.

Hex's dream.

Hex ran through an icy realm, searching for something. She had no clue what she was searching for, or why it was in an icy realm such as this, but she was well aware of her desperation to find the object of her search. She looked around and watched in awe as part of the glacier around her fell apart and revealed an ice cave. Hex ran to the cave, somehow knowing that the object of her search was there. Just as she was about to reach the cave, it rose in to the sky on top of a statuesque pillar of ice. The pillar stood approximately ten thousand feet high. Hex screamed in frustration, but continued her trek to the cave.

She saw a spiral icy slope that would allow her to climb up the pillar. She rapidly ascended the slope, desperately trying to reach the ice cave. Hex had no clue how much time had passed when she reached the frozen cave. Millennia's or centuries could have passed, or she could have reached the cave in a matter of five milliseconds, in that moment Hex didn't care how much time had gone by, she was simply relieved to have reached the cave. Hex's skin had turned pale, and her chest heaved violently as she tried to catch her breath. The climb to the cave had taken its toll on her. She looked around, praying that she would find the object of her search. Pleasure rushed through her as she saw an object lying in the center of the ice cave.

The object was a skull with two hollow eye sockets, and boney teeth barred in a smile. Even as the owner of this skull died, she still had a smile on her face. Hex looked at the skull and smiled at it, tears mixed with grief and joy flooding her eyes. Despite how weak she felt, she ran to the skull and touched its head lightly. Her tears struck the skull, and the icy scenery around her began to change. Hex was no longer in an ice cave; instead she was in an old library. Spell books lined the bookshelves that stood proudly against the dusty shredded walls. An old dusty recliner lay in the corner of the library, and an old dust covered desk sat in the center. The skull Hex had found in the ice cave perched proudly on the round table top, and a pleasant warm light radiated from it.

A specter rose from the skull, her carnation pink eyes glowing with affection. The spirit belonged to that of an elf that Hex was well acquainted with.

"Jassya!" Hex exclaimed.

"Hex my child; it is so great to see you again."

Memories of an academy for sorceresses and a blazing fire assailed Hex, guilt and grief washed over her.

"I'm sorry about the fire I caused… I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt. I didn't want to hurt Renae or any of the other students; I especially didn't want to hurt you… I just couldn't stand the insults that she would throw at me; I just couldn't take it…" Hex began to weep bitterly.

Staring in to the beautiful and gentle face of Jassya had reminded her of what she had lost. Hex felt like a child as she sobbed to her former mentor, but in that moment she didn't care.

Jassya wrapped her wispy arms around Hex and whispered soothingly to her.

"Hush now my child, you know I don't blame you for the fire. You acted solely out of self defense."

"But you died because of me!" Hex wailed.

"It wasn't your fault that I died Hex… it was no ones fault. Death happens, and there is often times nothing one can do to stop it. I would have died some day anyway, after all no one can live forever…"

"But you didn't have to die that day! You had your whole life ahead of you still…"

"In my life I lived through hell Hex. There was a time where I wanted my life to come to an end, that changed when I met you though. You were like a daughter to me Hex, you had given me someone to live for, and in the end someone to die for as well. I wish you the best Hex; I don't want to see you suffer…"

Hex stopped weeping, and looked at Jayssa.

"I wish you hadn't died."

"I know sweetheart, but do not mourn for me. You must look to the future my dear and see the light. Its time you let go of the darkness that haunts and hurts you so much."

"I'll never be able to let the darkness go until Darko falls." Hex sighed sadly.

Jassya smiled warmly at her former student, and said "I may be able to help you find him…"

With those words the scenery changed back to an icy cave. In the corner of the cave a black dragon sat with a torn red robe hung over his shoulders, he stared intently in to an orb. On the other side of the cave an emaciated elf sat. the elfin female curled in on her self desperately trying to keep her body heat in. the sick elf had pale blue skin, and her hair was frizzy and shriveled. Mucus formed around the girls eyelids, almost gluing her eyes shut.

Hex's stomach churned at the sight. She never liked Sophia, she often thought that the girl was whiny and obnoxious, that however didn't mean that Hex derived pleasure from watching her slowly freeze to death in Darko's new lair. Hex clenched her fists and turned to Jassya.

"He's in the ice cave I found your skull in, isn't he?" Hex asked.

"Yes, you must go to the ice cave that is where you will find Darko."

"Thank you Jassya." Hex said with gratitude. No words could express how much grief had been lifted off of her from this one conversation with her former mentor.

Hex turned to run away when Jassya called her back.

"Wait Hex! You must know by now that you can not defeat Darko yourself. There are people all around you who can help if you would let them."

"What do you mean?" Hex asked her mentor.

Jassya sighed, and then waved her hand, the scenery once again changed revealing a forest shrouded in shadow. For a brief moment Hex wondered if it was the falling forest, but that theory abruptly ceased being when she noticed some icy flakes blowing through the forest. Hex was certain that the falling forest didn't get any snow; then again this was a dream…

Hex tensed as she heard a voice in the forest.

"Sophia! Sophia!" the voice called desperately.

Hex realized in annoyance that Flameslinger had intruded in to her dream, and shock ran through her as she realized that Jassya was implying for her to work with Flameslinger.

"You're kidding right? Flameslinger would be absolutely useless in a fight against Darko! He's to… wimpy…" Hex said.

"He may not seem like much to you, but you shouldn't underestimate his love for Sophia."

"That's great, but how does Flameslinger having a crush on Sophia help me kick Darko's ass? Hex asked her patients beginning to ware thin.

"He will accompany you and fight Darko if you tell him that Sophia is still alive and can be rescued. "

"But Sophia is dead isn't she?" Hex asked.

"You know very well that Sophia lives Hex. She can be a valuable ally in your fight against Darko as well. "

Hex looked down in disapproval. She really didn't want to work with Flameslinger or Sophia, but she would bear it if it meant freeing her life of Darko.

"I'll tell Flameslinger about Sophia." Hex grumbled.

Jassya smiled at Hex, and waved her hand. The scenery shifted revealing a black ocean, with grey fog hovering around it. The sands at the beach were an obsidian black color. Hex watched as a black dragoness leapt out of the shadow, a plain white shell in her mouth.

The black dragoness lowered the shell gently in to the ocean and said "swim away little shell. Join your family and friends, go where you belong."

After those words the black dragoness began to sing. "Fly home my darling, be where you belong. Nothing will stop you from reaching your shores…. Nights will pass, days will fly, and still you'll continue on… so certain that your journey will always last. "The voice the dragoness sang in was warm and beautiful, the tone of the song brought peace over Hex. Suddenly the tone turned cold, and the voice became filled with cruller sorrow.

"You fly to me and I look upon you face… I see the truth, behind closed eyes, you lie in chains. Your soul is bound, imprisoned by your own façade. All you say is a wispy lie. They think they see you yet they don't. All they see is the façade…"

Hex had to strain her hears to hear the final notes of the song.

"Why can't they look beyond? See who I truly am… know the real me, and love her… why must I go on, continuing my façade, why can't I open and release the true me? Would they care for me? Or is it my façade they love?"

Her sad song ended as she gazed in to the ocean. Her head was bowed in resignation. Hex had no clue why, but she ran to the sorrowful black dragoness.

"Cynder!" Hex called.

"Hex, what are you doing here?" Cynder asked nervously.

"I don't know." Hex stated bluntly.

An expression of self consciousness surfaced on Cynder's face and she said, "How long have you been her?"

"I don't know, I don't understand how time passes in dreams."

"Did you here my song?" Cynder asked anxiety clear in her voice.

"Yes. What was it about?"

Cynder looked hesitant for a moment but then explained about her song.

"It's about how I am forced to hide behind a façade. All you and the other skylanders see is a dragoness with an overly peppy and cheerful personality, but that's not who I really am. Everyday that goes by I am filled with regret over the things I was forced to do. Not a day goes by that I don't think of the lives I had ruined. There are times when the memories make me feel as if I am being torn apart. I want so badly to tell someone what I have been through, I want them to know that I'm not a monster, but I don't want them to pity me or think that I'm whining. Day by day I tell myself that I don't care what they think, but I know I'm just deceiving myself. Everyday I yearn to tell my friends about my emotions, but would they still like me if they heard the truth, or is it just the façade I wear that they love?"

Hex stared at the black dragoness, empathy flooding over her. Hex knew what it felt like to ware a façade. She knew how tiring it was to act like a whole other person with each passing day. Hex wondered how long Cynder had been hiding her true self.

"If they truly are your friends then they won't think your whining. They'll care for you and appreciate that you trust them enough to show your true self." Hex said.

"What if they aren't truly my friends though? Cynder asked fearfully.

"Then you can always try to make new friends, but you never know if you don't try to tell them about what you suffered."

Cynder stared at Hex and smiled. This time the smile wasn't forced at all. Cynder truly felt peace flowing over her.

"Thank you Hex. I should have told them a long time ago what I had been through. I really appreciate you telling me this."

With those words Cynder began to sing another song, this time it was full of sincere bliss, with gratitude mixed in to it.

"You looked at me, and saw who I am. You did not run away… instead you came to me. Now I see that I shouldn't fear, because an angel came to me. She told me not to fear, she taught me how to trust, the shadows fade away, and the light fills my soul. The façade has fallen; I know who I am now. I am Cynder! And I will remain as her forever more…"

Hex stared at the black dragoness, pleasure filling her. All her life she thought she was a failure but now she saw that she could do good. She had given Cynder the encouragement that was needed to help her trust her friends. Jassya smiled at Hex, and waved her hand. Cynder and the black ocean faded away revealing a world that Hex had never wanted to see again. Hex looked upon the under world, fear flooding through her.

"Do not worry my dear, you have friends here." Jassya said. With those words Hex saw Gristine float out of the shadows.

A blue and silver ghost emerged in front of Gristine. The ghost had long, slender yet wispy ears perched atop her head. Her eyes were a pale silver color. Hex quickly realized that this was the ghost of an elf. Gristine smiled at the ghost, he then opened a pouch that he clutched in his hand, and pulled out some seeds. The seeds then dissolved in to brown and green smoke, and flew in to the ghost's mouth.

"Thank you so much Ghost Roaster, it has been so long since I have eaten." The ghost sang in a cheerful tone.

"Your quite welcome Slavaka, but you know my name is no longer Ghost Roaster. I left that cursed name behind after leaving the Underworld."

"Quite right, I do apologize for that comment. I don't remember your new name though, what is it?" Slavaka sang in confusion.

"I took on the name of Gristine; it was my father's name."

"Yes! Now I remember! Thank you so much for reminding me!" Slavaka sang.

"I forgot to ask how life in the Underworld is going for you. How are you holding up with only being able to sing your words?" Gristine asked.

"Despite what I once thought, I have learned that singing is not a curse, but a gift. Before I would sing my sorrow to the world, but now I sing of joy. I have noticed a change in the other spirits when I sing blissful songs to them. They seem to be more at peace with there circumstances, and there is less anger with in them."

"That's great! I'm glad to know this place isn't as much of a hell hole as it was when I first fell here."

With that remark, a loud whistle echoed around the landscape.

"I must be off now Gristine. Malefor calls to all his creatures and if I'm late he may punish me." Slavaka sang in a fearful tone. With those words the beautiful ghost disappeared.

Gristine sighed mournfully before saying, "Some day they will be free of him. Malefor can't reign forever." Gristine turned to face the shadows of the Underworld, and called out.

"Hex! I know your there! You can't conceal yourself forever!"

Hex felt fear creep in to her, but decided to come out and speak to Gristine.

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping…" Hex muttered guiltily.

Gristine cackled and then said, "No problem! This is a dream of mine after all. Although I must admit I didn't expect to see you in my dreams."

"I didn't expect to see you either, but it is what it is I guess."

"Yes, it is what it is…" Gristine mumbled.

"Where did you go Hex? You ran past me earlier, and when I said hello you just kept running. What frightened you so much to make you run like that?" Gristine asked.

Hex felt herself burning in humiliation, but then said, "I couldn't stay with the skylanders anymore. For so long I have fought against Darko and failed. After Sophia got captured, I decided that I could no longer be a skylander, I wasn't fit for the role of a hero…"

"So you ran away." Gristine murmured in disapproval.

"Yes I ran because there was nothing in the skylands for me!" Hex snapped.

"What about Cynder and I? Were your friends Hex, we would help you face Darko if you would let us!"

Hex briefly thought about bringing Gristine and Cynder in to her war against Darko. It would be great to have allies that were actually competent, but she knew she couldn't risk Cynder and Gristine's lives. She finally came to the conclusion that she was on her own, as she always was.

"I'm sorry Gristine. I can't let you help me fight Darko.

"Why not!" Gristine snarled.

"Because Stinga died helping me face Darko! Sophia was captured by him! There's no way in hell I'm letting Darko hurt you or Cynder!" Hex snapped at him.

"Hex, you don't have to try to protect me and Cynder you know. Were perfectly capable of protecting ourselves, and in all fairness, we are stronger then you. Let us help you fight him Hex, we will stand at each others side and defeat him together. I know what its like to want to protect people you care for, but sometimes the best way to protect them is to let them fight there own battles."

Hex considered Gristine's words, and tears fell from her eyes. Cynder and Gristine truly were her friends, and she didn't want to loose them, but if Darko continued to live, Cynder and Gristine would be caught in the cross fire.

"Okay, please help me fight Darko." Hex whimpered.

"Gristine smiled at her and said, "Of course I'll help you. I would go through anything for you…"

Hex felt an odd warmness seeping through her as she heard those words. She felt an odd sensation of affection for Gristine at that moment, and she briefly wondered if he loved her as more then just a friend. Suddenly it made sense that Flameslinger was trying so desperately to save Sophia, he was in love with her…

Hex shook off these thoughts, knowing that they wouldn't aid her at all in a fight against Darko. She then spoke to Gristine.

"Thank you so much for offering to help me fight Darko, it means a lot to me."

Gristine smiled at Hex and faded away. Hex looked around to see that the darkness of the Underworld was gone. In its place stood bars and racks with guns on them. She watched as townsfolk with cowboy hats strolled through the town. Hex came to the conclusion that she was caught in a corny old western movie.

Hex looked around and saw Cracky leaping about. A crowd of cheering people surrounded him, and they all chanted his name enthusiastically. He had his gold guns raised high, and he shot gold coins to the audience. The crowd went wild as they franticly scooped up the coins he shot at them. Cracky continued with his odd performance until chunks of cheese with whit feathery wings flew over him.

"What the hell?" Hex exclaimed in confusion.

Cracky flexed his muscles and raised his guns. He then shot the chunks of cheese out of the sky. The cheese exploded in to small chunks, and the crowd ran to the chunks and ate them. Hex's eye twitched at the absurdity of this dream.

"Hey Hex!" Cracky called to her. "Join the party!"

"What the hell is going on?" Hex asked Cracky.

"I just saved all of ancient Stone Town from the giant winged cheese monster. Duh!"

Hex just stared at the odd little skylander.

"I could probably help you kill Darko you know. After all how tough is he to fight in comparison to the mean and nasty winged cheese monster!"

The crowd once again erupted in to cheers, and one ditsy female cried out, "I love Cracky!" She then fainted.

"Yeah well I'll let you think about letting me join your parade against Darko. But incase you can't see I am rather busy right now." With those words Cracky walked away and was mobbed by a crowd of ditsy females.

Hex's eye twitched violently, she turned to Jassya and asked, "Are we done visiting people's dreams yet? I think I'll have to be in therapy for the rest of my life after observing this dream. "

"We have two more dreams to visit, but don't fret the skylanders were visiting now have more- eh- rational minds."

"Thank God for that." Hex muttered. With those words the western scenery changed revealing a beautiful lake. There were two palm trees guarding the lake, one stood on the right side of the shore, and the other stood on the left side. The sand on this beach was soft and white. In the center of the shore was a beach chair where Gillie sat. Gillie wore black sunglasses on his face, and he wore dark blue swim trunks decorated with palm trees.

"Hey Hex! What's up?"

"Why are you dozing at a beach?" Hex asked.

"Oh you know, some times people just need to chill and shake off there worries a little bit. It helps them refocus there thoughts on the brutal fight called life." With those words Gillie snapped his fingers and a set of snare drums appeared. He sighed happily and started to play them.

The music of the snare drums soothed Hex, and she briefly wondered if she should try to relax a little more. She shook off those thoughts realizing that she was just being lazy, she then said goodbye to Gillie, and walked off the beach to join Jassya.

"How can Gillie be of any use in a fight against Darko? He's so lazy."

"In his dreams he rests as people are supposed to, but you can not accuse him of slacking off in a battle."

"Okay… now where do we go?"

Jassya smiled at Hex, and the beach was replaced with the image of the training grounds back at the ruins. Hex watched as Spyro leapt in to the air, and fell downwards. As he fell a comet of green energy glowed around him. Spyro struck the ground, causing a shockwave. The shock wave ran beneath the dirt, and struck a scarecrow. Spyro grunted in satisfaction at his strike, and then turned to glance at Hex.

"What are you doing in my dream!" Spyro questioned.

"I honestly don't know."

Spyro's face twisted in a look of disapproval but he said nothing, he simply walked towards a scarecrow, and blew fire at it.

"You train yourself in your dreams?" Hex asked.

"Well of course. How else am I to stay in shape?"

With those words Spyro began to run in a circle. For a moment Hex thought he was chasing his tail until he began to pick up speed. The purple dragon began to run quicker and quicker until orange fire glowed on his scales. The fire spread and engulfed Spyro. Once the fire fully engulfed him, Spyro stopped his running and leapt in to the sky. He spread his wings widely, and looked more like a phoenix then a dragon in that moment. Spyro then began to twirl his body in the air. Fire rained down from the dragon as he continued to spin. A funnel of fire opened beneath the purple dragon, and a blazing tornado appeared. Spyro spun faster and faster, and then he was thrown out of the blazing tornado.

In a flash the fiery funnel vanished and a wave of dust struck Spyro and Hex.

"Damn it!" Spyro exclaimed angrily, I always mess up that move! I can't even get it right in my dreams!"

"Sure you can get it right; you just need to keep practicing."

"Hex, I have been practicing this move for five years, both awake and in my sleep, let me tell you there is no way I can get it right."

Hex had no clue how to respond to this.

"Where did you go anyway? You looked like a wild animal when you were running away. Master Eon has sent search patrols out for you. Why did you run away?"

"I couldn't stay with the skylanders Spyro, I wasn't meant to be a skylander."

"Why do you say that?"

Because it's true! How am I meant to be a skylander if I can't fight Darko!"

"Darko is a powerful foe Hex, not even I could beat him on my own. Don't forget though that you have friends in the skylands who are willing to help you fight him. Call to them and they will come." After that brief exchange Spyro began to spin again, obviously trying to master the flaming tornado attack.

Spyro and the training ground disappeared as Hex and Jassya were returned to the library.

"This is where we part ways my child, I wish you well in your fight against Darko, but there's not much else I can do to help you." Jassya said to her former apprentice.

"You don't need to do more; you already have done everything for me." Hex said, once again feeling like a child.

Jayssa smiled at Hex and faded away. Hex felt exhaustion tear at her. She lowered herself to the floor of the library and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she was lying in her bed. Hex smiled as she remembered her dream. She then got up and went to find Flameslinger so she could tell him about Sophia.


	7. Chapter 7

Flameslingers dream

Flameslinger wandered through the shadowy forest, calling Sophia's name. Oh how he mourned his best friend's fate, and how he wished she was beside him now. Life had slowly deteriorated for him since Sophia's capture. He barely ate anymore, often hiding in his room and sleeping the day's way. He had taken to talking to himself, just so he would have some one to talk to. His voice had grown hoarse from his constant crying, but he didn't care.

His dreams had turned dark and cold, every single one filled with misery. Every night he saw Sophia being snatched by Darko. He heard Sophia call out to him, pleading for help he could not give her. He continued to walk through the shadowy forests of his nightmare. A cold wind blew over Flameslinger, and the forest of shadows vanished. Now Flameslinger was in a cave of ice.

In one corner of the cave Darko slept, on the other side of the cave was Sophia. Flameslinger gasped at the condition his friend was in. There were black bags beneath Sophia's eyes, and a slimy green substance formed around her eyelids. Her skin had turned to a pale shad of blue and her hair was a matted mess. Flameslinger could see each of Sophia's ribs jutting out painfully; he could have counted her ribs if he cared to.

"Sophia…" Flameslinger choked out. His best friend looked more dead then alive at the moment.

"Flameslinger?" Sophia whispered weakly.

Flameslinger ran to his friend and hugged her tightly; Sophia wrapped her bony arms around him and shivered.

"Sophia I'm so sorry, I didn't want you to be taken by Darko!" Flameslinger cried.

Sophia wept as well and hugged Flameslinger as tightly as she could.

"You'll come back for me won't you? Please don't leave me…" Sophia pleaded.

"I won't abandon you Sophia, I never will. I'll come back for you I promise."

Sophia smiled at his words, and then faded away. Flameslinger also faded away.

"Sophia!" he wailed as she faded from his sight.

Flameslingers eyes flew open and he found himself alone in his room. Sobs shook his body as he thought about his dream. Flameslinger heard a clicking sound behind him but thought nothing of it. Suddenly his door slammed open and Hex drifted in to his room.

"What the hell is the matter with you! I've been knocking at your door for a whole damn hour! I finally had to bust down your stupid door! I swear to god Flameslinger if anyone finds me you'll have hell to pay!"

Fury flooded Flameslinger as he glared at Hex. It was because of her that Sophia was captured, and here she was in his home yelling at him for not answering the door.

"Go away Hex!" Flameslinger rasped in resentment.

"But don't you want to know a way to save your girlfriend?" Hex asked in a mocking tone.

"What girlfriend?" Flameslinger asked in genuine confusion.

"Sophia." Hex responded.

"Sophia's not my girlfriend." Flameslinger stated, his face starting to turn red.

"Whatever. Do you want to save her or not?"

"Of course I want to save her! I would have given my life for her if I ever had to! I love her Hex… and I failed her…"

"I don't doubt your words Flameslinger, but now is not the time to be pathetic. I know where Darko is, and I can lead you to Sophia."

How do you know where Sophia is?" Flameslinger asked in confusion.

"Simple. I have an omniscious skull."

"What's in it for you?" Flameslinger asked in suspicion.

"I need you to help me kill Darko in return for me leading you to Sophia."

"Is that all?" Flameslinger asked with biting sarcasm.

"Yes, now ready yourself so we can move out." With those words Hex drifted out of Flameslinger's home.

Flameslinger watched Hex leave, and his mind buzzed with excitement. Sophia was alive! He would save her from Darko, and then they could both go free. Flameslinger immediately set to packing the supplies he would need on his quest. Once he was done packing, he ran off to find Hex.

Hex stood in a grassy clearing, by a small stone cave looking over a spell book. She wanted to memorize certain spells that could be useful against Darko. One spell that she found important was a spell that enabled someone to summon a portal. This spell took a lot of energy, and the portal would only stay open for a short amount of time, but Hex figured it could be useful. Another spell that caught her attention was a spell that required dark magic to cast.

This spell would turn its victim to stone, and release a black tidal wave of powerful energy, that would destroy its victim's stone form. This was defiantly a good spell to use in a fight that could potentially kill you. Hex chanted the spell under her breath, taking in every detail of the words. Perhaps if she could cast this spell on Darko, it would end his life once and for all.

Hex heard foot steps behind her, and turned around expecting to see Flameslinger. Instead she saw the ethereal form of Cynder. The black dragoness stepped in to the sunlight, and showed her true form.

"Hello Hex. It's great to see you again. Where did you go on the night you vanished?" Cynder asked.

"I ran to this cave. There was no way I could remain a skylander, I just wasn't cut out for the job…"

"I see… well it's great to see you again."

"It's great to see you to Cynder. Why are you here though anyway?"

"I was looking for you. Master Eon has sent groups people out to find you, but I came here on my own. I can tell you want to remain hidden, so I won't tell anyone that I saw you."

"Thanks." Hex replied to her friend gratefully. She was glad the black dragoness wasn't going to reveal to Eon where she was at.

"Where are you going now?" Cynder asked.

"To fight Darko." Hex replied casually.

"Then I'm coming to. You know I have a personal score to settle with Darko."

"Indeed you do." Hex replied.

Hex knew about how dismal Cynder's life had been when she was a slave to Malefor. Part of Cynder's torture at Malefor's hands had been because of Darko. Malefor had originally intended for Darko to be his vessel of destruction, but Darko had fled from the Underworld before Malefor could corrupt his mind. Malefor then took Cynder and corrupted her to replace Darko.

Cynder's mind had been tormented since that day until Spyro had freed her. Ever since then Cynder had sworn an oath that she would get revenge on Malefor and Darko.

"You know where Darko is at?" Cynder asked.

"Yes, I need to wait for Flameslinger to get here before we can set out though."

"I'll wait…" Cynder sighed in boredom.

Hex continued to memorize the spells in her book while Cynder batted at a dandelion. Cynder knocked the seeds in to the air, and inhaled them. She then exhaled the seeds. She continued this process until a purple dragon landed beside her.

"I haven't found any sign of Hex- oh there she is…" Spyro muttered.

Cynder who was startled by Spyro's appearance started to choke on the dandelion seeds she inhaled. She then violently breathed the seeds out of her mouth, all the while batting at the seedless dandelion stem.

"Sorry about making you choke on those seeds." Spyro said to Cynder.

Cynder gasped for a while, trying to regulate her breathing again she then said, "That's fine, wasn't your fault I choked on the seeds."

Spyro nodded his head, acknowledging Cynder's words. He then turned to Hex and asked "Where have you been?"

Hex rolled her eyes at the question and didn't reply. She then continued to study her spell book.

The sound of gasping caused the three skylanders to turn around. They saw Cracky and Gillie gasping for breath; a little ways behind them was the rattling sounds of Gristine's tail. Hex pulled her cloak up over her face to conceal her blushing. She was still confused about the words Gristine had said to her in her dream.

"You guys finally found her! Hex we were looking all over the ruins for you!" Gristine exclaimed happily. Hex was currently unable to speak at the moment.

"Join the parade!" Cynder exclaimed forcing enthusiasm in to her voice.

"There's a parade?" Cracky asked in a wheezing voice.

"I was being sarcastic!" Cynder snapped.

Cracky then fainted.

The sound of quick footsteps caused the skylanders to turn. They saw Flameslinger with a satchel of supplies on his back. He wore a compass around his neck, and clutched a hiking stick in his hand.

"Are we ready to save Sophia now?" Flameslinger asked Hex, completely ignoring the other skylanders.

"Of course, let me just set up a portal so we can reach her." Hex replied. She then began chanting a spell that would activate a portal.

"What's going on?" Spyro questioned Flameslinger.

"Hex knows where Sophia is, she's going to help me save her." Flameslinger explained.

"She's also going to confront Darko." Cynder added darkly.

Spyro nodded his head, acknowledging both Skylanders words; he then turned to see Hex chanting the spell to create a portal. Spyro knew that it would take an immense amount of energy to open the portal, so he decided to aid the undead sorceress. He began to chant the words that Hex was chanting, using some of his own energy to shape the portal so she didn't become too strained.

Gratitude shown in Hex's eyes and she continued the chant. Cynder and Gristine chanted the spell as well, wanting to aid there friends. Soon a round portal began to take shape. The portal glowed with white and blue light, silver stars glowed in the portal. Hex began to tremble from the effort of opening the portal, but then the portal widened and began to suck the skylanders in to it.

One by one the skylanders were sucked in to the blue and silver vortex. The portal collapsed behind them as the group of seven fell in to an ice cold world. The land they were now in was covered with deep snow. Hidden lakes of ice were buried beneath the frosty powder. All around them an ice cold wind blew, biting the skylanders with its frosty teeth. Colossal walls of ice surrounded them, sheltering them from some of the icy gusts at least.

Flameslinger looked to Hex and said, "Take us to Sophia."

Resentment flooded Hex as she heard Flameslinger's comment. He had no right to order her around! Yet a promise was a promise, and for Jassya's sake Hex had to help Flameslinger.

"I'll lead you to her, but if you try to order me around or get on my nerves in anyway you will have hell to pay Flameslinger." Hex threatened.

"Okay." Flameslinger muttered bitterly.

Hex looked around the icy realm, trying to figure out where the ice cave would be. She felt the ground shake beneath her, and she watched with horror as a chunk of the icy walls around them.

"Avalanche!" Hex screamed.

The seven skylanders franticly ran away as a chunk of ice fell towards them. The ground shuddered; often time knocking the seven companions to the ground. Each time someone tripped or fell behind, there comrades would help them up. The group continued there frantic running as tidal waves of snow came crashing towards them. The group saw an icy wall in front of them, and watched in horror as they realized they couldn't run anymore. Just as the frosted wave was about to strike them, a shield of magical energies surrounded them.

Hex looked to see Spyro supporting the shield. The dragon's face was beaded in perspiration, and his teeth were bared in a grimace. Hex had no clue how long Spyro could keep the shield up, so she chanted a shielding spell over her companions in the case that Spyro's shield may falter. Hex watched as Spyro's shield collapsed. Hex's shield quickly rose up in its place.

"What do we do now?" Flameslinger asked, his voice filled to the brim with fear.

"Do you have a plan Hex?" Spyro asked.

"My plan mostly consists of not having this shield collapse." Hex said through gritted teeth. Her arms felt like they were being torn from there sockets, and she felt like she was going to pass out.

"I have a plan…" Cynder whispered.

"What?" Spyro questioned.

Cynder didn't answer him, instead she rose up and turned ethereal, she then ran outside the shield and rose in to the sky. The black dragoness took on her true form and began to spin rapidly in circles. Black fire engulfed her, and a funnel of flame shot underneath her body. A dark fiery wind swept over her, and the snow began to melt in to water. Cynder broke out of her fire tornado attack and landed in the water. Hex's shield collapsed in that moment, causing the group to be struck by the water. Each skylander shivered as the cold water struck them.

The skylanders turned to face Cynder so they could thank her for melting the snow, but no words came. Cynder had changed after using the flaming black tornado. Rays of shadow energy radiated off of her, and her eyes were a glowing silver color.

"Cynder…" Spyro murmured.

"You shouldn't worry so much… I won't hurt you. The darkness has no control over me, I control it, and as long as I remain in control you won't be hurt…" Cynder's voice took on an eerie tone. It also sounded as if an intense amount of strain had been put on it.

The black dragoness trembled as she continued to speak. "Go ahead, hate me if you so choose to, I don't mind. I've been so long in Malefor's hands that I now need the dark magic to live. If I go to long without it I will die. This is the true me Spyro, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about my plight before, I'm sorry that I didn't trust you enough…" Tears leapt in to Cynder's eyes and her voice quivered but she continued her speech.

"I'm okay if you never trust me again though, because now I am free to be me. I no longer have to live in fear that you might find out about how I feed off of the black magic, and I know I have one true friend who will always be there for me."

With those words the radiant shadow magic vanished from Cynder. Her eyes reverted back to there normal ocean blue coloration, and her scales shone violet black as they always were.

"Come on, we should get out of this water before it turns to ice, we don't want to be trapped in one spot." Cynder said absentmindedly.

With those words everyone continued there trek through the snowy waste land, wondering how they had let themselves be dragged in to this icy mess.


	8. Chapter 8

Sophia shivered as an icy wind blew through the cave she was trapped in. she rocked herself back and fourth in an effort to be warm, but the rocking only made her feel dizzy. She had been imprisoned for a week, and hadn't eaten that whole time. At night she would sneak over to the ice patch, and would tear off chunks of ice so she could quench her thirst.

She didn't go to the ice patch to often anymore though, she grown to weak to drag herself over there. Not to mention she hated seeing her reflection. She could see dark circles around her eyes, and a pale green fluid seeping out of them. Her skin had turned pale blue, and her lips were cracked and gray. She could feel her ribs jutting painfully out of her flesh, and she knew she was close to death.

Sophia began to weep bitterly as she thought about her best friend Flameslinger. She had dreamed that he had come to her. He promised to save her, and said that he would protect her forever once she was free.

"Flameslinger!" Sophia wailed grief flooding through her. She longed so much to be with her friend again.

"Shut up you wretched little bitch!" Darko snarled fiercely running up to Sophia and slapping her harshly across the face. "Make one last obnoxious sound and I will tear your intestines out! Got it!"

Sophia trembled with terror, but managed to nod her head to Darko.

"Excellent, and for the record your friend won't come for you. He is dead. He came to this icy realm and was killed in an avalanche.

"No… NO! He isn't dead! He can't be dead! He ran away and escaped he must have!" Sophia wailed.

"Yeah, keep thinking that…" Darko muttered in annoyance.

Sophia sat in the ice cave and wondered if what Darko said was true. Her spirit dropped to an all time low, and she wished she was dead so she could get away from Darko. She curled inwards on herself and began to hum.

"The mountains erode with the winter storms, seasons change and years fly past. Stars glow bright and then they fade, but my love for you will always last. The clouds float by on the gentle breeze, the dandelion blows its seeds. Days grow short and years move fast, but my love for you will always last…."

Tears leapt in to Sophia's eyes as she hummed the final line of the song. Suddenly she knew she cared for Flameslinger as more then just a friend, and it took his death to make her realize it. Living wasn't worth it anymore; Sophia closed her eyes, and prayed for death to take her.

The seven skylanders sat in an ice cave, preparing themselves to rest for the night. Hex studied her spell book, while Cracky, Gillie, Gristine and Spyro slept. Flameslinger anxiously paced the floor and Cynder shifted around in the snow, trying to make herself comfortable.

Flameslinger sighed in worry as he thought about Sophia. He wondered what would happen to her if he was too late to save her. He thought back to his dream and recalled how sick Sophia looked. Fear flooded him as he remembered how weak she had been.

Flameslinger sat down in the cold snow, his legs to sore for him to continue pacing. He opened the palm of his hand and summoned a small fire.

"Sophia…" Flameslinger whimpered.

The fire showed him and Sophia playing together when they were children. It was the day that Sophia had first offered to be his friend. Flameslinger closed his eyes, and let the memories engulf him.

Flameslinger sat at the edge of the lake on a sandy shore, tears in his eyes. When he first became an apprentice skylander he had always strived to be the best. All the other apprentices looked up to him; some even tried to imitate him, which was often amusing to watch. For the longest of times he had been leader of the apprentices until she came along.

A she-elf by the name of Stealth elf had joined the skylander apprentices a month ago. Flameslinger had often made fun of the little girl because of her stupid sounding name. For a whole month Stealth elf had put up with his rude comments in regard to her name, but she finally snapped. Flameslinger had said that only an insane person would call there child Stealth elf and the little girl had lunged at him and attacked him. She had challenged him to a battle, and said that if she won he would have to stop making fun of her name. Flameslinger believed that he could easily beat the little girl and had gladly accepted her challenge.

As it turned out Flameslinger was wrong about being able to beat her, and had brutally gotten his tail end kicked. All the apprentices had erupted in to laughter as they saw him fall face down in to a puddle of mud. Humiliation had taken control of him, causing him to run to Dew Drop Lake.

He sighed sadly as he thought about his defeat and he remembered his older brother Flametosser. His older brother had died in an attack on his village. Undead had ambushed his brother and snatched him away. Flameslinger still remembered the last words his brother had told him.

"If anything happens to me I want you to promise me that you will be the best you can be little brother. I love you and I will try my best to come back for you."

Since then Flameslinger had always strived to be the best.

Flameslinger had been the best apprentice at the school, as his brother had wanted but no longer. He had failed his big brother, the one person who had always been there for him.

Flameslinger sniffed sadly as a rustling sound caught his attention. Anger and shame flooded him as he saw Stealth elf step in front of him.

"What do you want?" He snapped at her.

"I wanted to know if you were okay." The small girl replied in her sickeningly sweet seven year old voice.

"Why should you care?" Flameslinger grumbled.

"Look, I'm sorry that I beat you, but I couldn't let you continue insulting my name."

"And why the Hell not?" Flameslinger snarled.

"This name is all I have left of my former mentor! He gave me this name when he began training me. If I forget this name then I will have nothing left of him! And you insulted him by insulting my name! Stealth elf wailed. There was something about the comment that touched Flameslinger.

"That's why you wanted me to stop insulting your name? Because your former mentor gave it to you?"

"Yes…" Stealth elf sighed.

"Do you have another name?" Flameslinger asked.

Stealth elf's eye glowed with hesitation as she said, "I have the name of Sophia… my former mentor told me it was the name my mother gave me…"

"Why don't you go by the name of Sophia then, it's easier to pronounce the Stealth elf.

Stealth elf appeared to think for a moment before saying, "I might let others call me by the name of Sophia."

"Good, the name Sophia isn't half as stupid as the name Stealth elf." Flameslinger told her.

Sophia/Stealth elf looked at Flameslinger with fury and disappointment in her eyes.

"You promised you wouldn't make fun of my name if I beat you in battle!"

"Yeah well why should I listen to anything you have to say half pint? I can't return to school because I would be known as the dude who got his ass whooped by a seven year old girl!"

"That isn't my problem Lameslinger! And for the record none of the students liked you anyway!"

"Yes they did! They were always running around like chickens with there head cut off trying stupid stunts to impress me!"

"They did that because they were afraid of you! They wanted you to stop making fun of them and making feel like shit, so they tried to please you so you wouldn't insult them!"

"They thought I was awesome!"

"They thought you were a bully! I spoke to some of the students just now and they said they hoped you were too humiliated to show your ugly little face around the school again! There all glad that you're gone!"

Flameslinger tried to shout back at his seven year old rival, but all that came out of his mouth was a pitiful squeak. He wondered if what this girl said was true, and if they were all making fun of him behind his back.

"I have friends…" Flameslinger whined. In that moment he realized that he had been a total prick to his classmates, and they had every right to hate his guts.

"I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted you to know that you have to stop being such a jerk to everyone." Sophia/Stealth elf said guiltily.

"They all hate me." Flameslinger muttered. "All along I thought they were my friends but they were just making fun of me every time my back was turned."

He stared in to the lake, depression threatening to overwhelm him.

"You don't need everyone to like you ya know. Just one true friend would be great."

"But I have no true friends do I?" Flameslinger sighed sadly.

"You have one if you accept her friendship."

"And who might that be?"

"Me. You could be cool you know if you try to be nicer to other people."

Flameslinger stared in surprise at the girl who sat beside him. He had been such a jerk to her, and here she was saying she wanted to be his friend. The thought filled Flameslinger with shame.

"You don't have to be upset about your past mistakes. Just try to improve yourself in the future" his companion said.

"Okay." Flameslinger replied.

"We should get back to class; the other skylanders will be waiting for us."

"Okay, but what should I call you. Stealth elf or Sophia?"

"Call me by whatever name you prefer, just don't make fun of either one." The girl said.

"I'll call you Sophia, it's easier for me to say, and it sounds pretty."

"Okay, Sophia it is then." With those words Sophia grabbed Flameslinger by his hand and pulled him back to central skylands. Flameslinger was surprised by Sophia's strength and speed, but did not comment. He simply let the little girl pull him home.

The memories fade away and Flameslinger began to weep. Oh how he missed Sophia. He wanted her back with him, where he could keep her safe from harm. Flameslinger gripped his bow tightly, and tried to get a grip on his emotions. The minute the dawn came to this icy plain Hex would lead him to Sophia. Flameslinger sighed sadly one last time before sinking in to a forlorn rest.


	9. Chapter 9

The minute the sun rose, Hex rallied her companions and journeyed on to find the ice cave Sophia was trapped at. The group continued there trek for eight hours, when they finally came across an ice cave perched atop a tall pillar. This was the same cave Hex had seen in her dream.

"Were here." Hex announced. The skylanders readied themselves to fight, and then ran up the icy slope. Hex could feel the anticipation burning her. She was certain that Darko would fall today. And of course Hex recalled her past fights with Darko and how she lost every single one of them. She pushed those thoughts aside and marched onward with her group. It took a lot of time and energy to climb the slope, but the group was reeling for a fight.

When they reached the top of the ice cliff, the were immediately confronted by Darko.

"At last Hexsesia! I grow weary of these fights; let us end them once and for all."

"Gladly!" Hex responded.

Hex threw a bolt of energy at Darko, hitting him in the chest. The black dragon spread his wings to avoid crashing in to the wall. Darko was readying himself for a counter attack when volts of purple lighting assailed him. Darko's body began to twist in a violent fashion, as volts of electricity ran through him. His pupils dilated and his maw widened in a silent shriek of agony. The violent contractions continued and he vomited blood all over the floor. He then collapsed and lie still.

"Well that was easy." Cynder said in disgust.

Hex just stared, refusing to believe the fight had ended that quickly. It couldn't be that easy, Darko had to have one last trick in his mind. A loud wail jarred Hex out of her thoughts and she turned to see Flameslinger, sitting by a large clump of ice. All the skylanders except for Cynder rushed over to Flameslinger. Hex looked down at the clump of ice he was holding, and realized with terror that the ice chunk was the body of Sophia.

"Is she alive?" Hex asked trying to keep the sorrow out of her voice. She had no clue why she felt so sad about this sight, she just did. Perhaps it was because Sophia was a victim of Darko's wrath? Or could it be something more?

Flameslinger lifted his hand to Sophia's face, summoning a small flame to warm her. Hex prayed that the girl's eyes would open, but they did not. Flameslinger gently pried the girl's eyes open in an effort to get a response from her. Sophia did not respond.

"No… I've come so close to her, she can't die… not like this. Not now." Flameslinger murmured.

Hex took a moment to consider the bitter irony of this situation. A skylander of the life element looking more dead then alive, it took Hex a moment to realize that she was crying.

Flameslinger kissed Sophia on the lips, in a last effort to wake her. Sophia's eye lids fluttered open, and some light returned to her eyes.

"Flameslinger…" she whispered weakly.

"I'm here…" Flameslinger responded to his friend.

"I dreamed you would come for me, and you did… Darko said that you had died in an avalanche, and I believed him…" Tears leapt in to Sophia's eyes as she said this.

Flameslinger pulled Sophia close to him, and whispered soothingly to her.

"You don't have to worry anymore, I'm here, and I'll never abandon you again. I'm so sorry I abandoned you before…" Flameslinger murmured, his own eyes began to fill with tears.

Hex looked away, unable to keep the tears out of her own eyes. Sophia curled herself close to Flameslinger, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her. Suddenly a dark voice filled the air.

"You honestly thought that it was all over? You honestly believed that you could go free? A real pity to say that your torture hasn't ended yet. The truth of the matter is that your suffering is only just beginning."

The skylander turned in the direction of the voice, shock ran through them as they saw the voice's owner. The speaker was a large black dragon. Dark magical energies radiated from the colossal leviathan. The creature had two long silver horns jutting out of the top of its head, and jagged silver spikes lined its tail and back. The dragon's wings were approximately fifty feet wide. The black dragon bared his teeth at the skylanders revealing long jagged fangs dripping with salvia. A murderous fury glowed in the black beast's eyes.

Sophia stiffened in Flameslinger's arm and she cried out weakly, "It's him! The beast of my nightmares… Darko!"

Hex looked up at the black beast terror coursing through her. She could feel his power radiating from him. It touched the core of her very being, and pulled at her. Hex wanted more of that magic, she wanted to feel the dark energy inside her and wanted it to fill her soul, and yet she knew if she gave in to her desire she would become a slave to Darko, and she would rather die then be condemned to that fate.

Hex saw that Cynder was clutched in Darko's claws. She noticed that Cynder also radiated dark magic. For a moment she was frightened that she may have to fight the black dragoness when she noticed that Cynder's eyes blazed silver instead of red. That assured Hex that Cynder was in control of the Darkness and not the other way around.

Darko glared at Hex and then pulled Cynder close to him; and wrapped his wings around her.

"You aren't pulling that stunt again!" Hex snarled.

Darko didn't reply. Spyro lunged at Darko, and shot volts of fire at him. Darko threw Cynder towards the bolts of fire, and flew towards the roof of the cave. He broke a hole in the ceiling, and flew off in to the snowy air. The ground trembled violently as the ice cave started to collapse.

"We have to run now!" Spyro called out.

No one moved, they had no clue where they could run to.

"Where do we run?" Flameslinger asked, holding Sophia so he could carry her to safety.

A look of fear spread across Spyro's face and he said, "I don't know… I don't know where to run."

A collective sigh rose up in the group as they heard this bit of news. Cracky fainted.

Gillie ran to Cracky and picked him up so the tech skylander wouldn't end up dying. Hex looked up as more snow began to fall from the sky. Hex quickly realized that it had began to snow outside the cave. Dismay washed over her as she realized that the snowstorm outside was actually a blizzard.

Spyro turned to Hex and said, "Can you summon a portal to get us out of here?"

Hex nodded her head, and quickly began to chant the spell. The ground continued to crack and groan beneath her feet, causing her to occasionally falter in her spell. A ton of snow fell from the sky and almost struck Hex. Gristine ran up to Hex and put up a magical shield around her and himself. Hex felt her face heat up a bit, but she continued to concentrate on her spell.

Loud screaming echoed around Hex as snow began coming towards her companions. She was tempted to stop trying to open a portal, and just put a shield around her friends, but she knew that wouldn't save them in the long run. She forced herself to block out the screams. Hex could hear Gristine's teeth chattering, and knew he wouldn't be able to support there shield for much longer.

Hex rapidly chanted the spell, and a small portal appeared. Blue and silver lights began to dance around the portal, and it widened slightly.

"Hex hurry up…" Spyro said, his own magical shield starting to waver. Both magic shields collapsed, and a wave of snow rushed towards the skylanders. They closed there eyes, expecting to feel the wave striking them, but instead they felt themselves being sucked in to something. Relief flowed through Hex as she realized they were being pulled in to the portal. Lights danced in Hex's vision, and her eyesight began to blur. Darkness gripped her vision and she let it, far to tired to keep her eyes opened any longer.


	10. Chapter 10

When Hex awoke she found herself lying in a room. The room had dark blue walls, and an old clock hung up. There was a desk standing next to the bed that Hex laid in. the sheets that Hex found herself tangled in had a simple white coloration. Hex quickly concluded that she was inside a hospital. Memories washed over Hex, and she realized that she had failed to beat Darko once again.

"It is what it is…" Hex muttered bitterly. She then untangled herself from the sheets and glided across the floor.

Hex wandered aimlessly around the hospital, trying to learn any information she could of her companions whereabouts. Unfortunately no news reached her ears, until she heard screaming in the distance.

"She's back! The black beast returns to haunt us!"

For a moment Hex was afraid Darko had followed her, until she realized the terrified screams said she has returned and not he has returned.

"What could they possibly be screaming about?" Hex muttered as she ran towards the sounds of screaming. Hex paused as she saw a black dragoness with glowing silver eyes, surrounded by a mob of maubus.

"Kill her now before she can kill us!" the maubus shrieked. Hex decided it was a great idea to interfere in that moment.

"What is this shouting all about!" Hex called in a powerful voice. If she could gain the maubus attention then Cynder could escape.

"The black beast by the name of Cynder seeks to destroy us! We must kill her quickly!"

"Cynder isn't going to hurt you, now get over yourselves and scram."

The maubus cast hate filled eyes on Hex, but turned away and left Cynder.

"Thanks Hex. You may have just saved my life right now." Cynder said.

"Why are you still in your darkness form? You know that it terrifies people."

"No shit it terrifies them. The problem is I can't change back."

"Why not?"

"I don't know why, but for some reason the dark energies inside me just won't leave me alone. I tried to force them away but I can't. I'm really scared Hex, what if I loose control and try to attack the skylands?" Cynder said fearfully.

Hex wondered what would happen if Cynder did loose control. For one thing it would mean a lot more trouble considering Darko was still on the loose, and another problem was what would happen to Cynder. Worst case scenario was they would have to kill Cynder to prevent her from harming any innocents, best case scenario was that Cynder would be exiled from the skylands, and forced to live in the outlands. Hex assumed that the townsfolk would vote to kill Cynder.

"You won't loose control. I'll find away to help you return to normal." Hex reassured her friend.

"Thanks Hex."

"It would be a good idea for you to stay away from any townsfolk, we might not be able to protect you from there wrath."

"Okay I'll stay away."

"Have you heard any news of our companions?" Hex asked.

"Sophia has a long road to recovery, but she'll live. Spyro and I were perfectly okay so we didn't have to be hospitalized. Cracky has gone in to shock, and Gillie is staying with him… Gristine was okay as well." Cynder explained.

"Hex sighed with relief as she heard her companions were safe she then asked "What about Flameslinger?"

"He hasn't left Sophia's side, but he is safe as well."

Hex felt herself go limp with relief.

"We should probably join the meeting." Cynder stated.

"What meeting?"

All the skylanders are meeting so we can decide how to deal with Darko, clearly sending small patrols to fight him isn't working so were trying to come up with something more drastic." Cynder explained.

Hex nodded her head, and followed Cynder to the meeting place. This meeting was at a different location then the first one. For one thing this meeting was being held underground. Hex's stomach churned unpleasantly as she thought of the last time she had been underground, that was the time when she was exploring the Underworld. That was also the time when she had once considered Darko a friend.

Cynder saw Hex's unease, and rested a paw on the undead sorceress's' shoulder. Hex nodded in gratitude at Cynder's attempt to assure her, but she still felt uneasy underground.

Cynder and Hex stopped traveling underground as they came across a crowed of skylanders. Eon's voice rang out around the meeting spot.

"Skylanders, as you all know the situation with Darko has taken a turn for the worst. We must now come up with a plan to end his reign of terror once and for all." 

With those words Eon stepped down and allowed Spyro to come up and speak.

"As we all know sending single patrols to fight Darko hasn't defeated him yet. We will have to fight as a team if we seek to destroy him. Unfortunately some of our skylanders have been badly injured in previous fights against Darko, and we have to wait for tem to recover before we begin our final assault on Darko."

Murmurs of agreement rose from the crowed.

"What are we supposed to do while our friends recover?" Camo asked.

"We can work on our battle moves, and come up with plans that could help us in our fight against Darko. Meanwhile there is another problem we face."

Questions rose in to the air as Spyro mentioned a second problem.

"Our friend Cynder has been taken hold of by dark magic, and she can't transform back. You shouldn't worry about her attacking you because she is fully in control of the darkness that taints her now. The villagers however believe that Cynder is evil, and will most likely try to hurt her for her inability to return to normal. What I'm trying to say is, if anyone has any idea on how to help her, please do help her."

With those words Spyro stepped down and let Eon speak.

"You are dismissed." Eon said. With those words all skylanders cleared out of the meeting place.

Hex and Cynder darted to the surface, deciding what they could do against Darko. Hex felt torn about trying to find a cure for Cynder, or choosing to practice her spells. In the end she decided that helping her friend was the more important task.

Hex ran to her home, readying herself to begin experimenting with various potions when she heard a knocking sound at her door. Hex ran to her door and opened it, seeing Gristine standing in the doorway. Once again she felt the obnoxious burning in her face.

"Hey Gristine, what are you doing here?" Hex asked, trying to keep her voice casual.

"I heard about what happened to Cynder, and since you know a lot about potions I figured you would be able to come up with a way to cure her. "

Hex nodded her head, though secretly she was disappointed that Gristine hadn't wanted to spend time with her. Hex mentally slapped herself, realizing that helping Cynder was far more important then her strange affection toward Gristine.

Hex told Gristine the basics about potions and herbal brews. She then had him bring her all the required equipment and ingredients for the potions she made. Often times Hex would call for Cynder, asking the black dragoness to try certain potions that Hex thought could dispel the dark energies around her. Most of the time the potion would fail completely and Cynder would wind up spewing the potion up to get it out of her system.

Sometimes the potion would slightly work. Some of the dark energies would leave Cynder, not enough to turn her back to normal, but enough to make Hex believe that she was making some sort of progress.

Day in and Day out Cynder, Hex, and Gristine worked side by side in Hex's home, trying to find away to reverse the darkness in Cynder. Five days had passed and still they couldn't find a way to reverse there friends curse. The strain of trying to find a cure, as well as her worries about Darko began to take its toll on Hex.

Hex sat at the desk in her laboratory, pouring a glowing purple liquid in to a vial with a radiant green liquid. The two potions merged creating a potion that radiated with blood red liquid. Hex threw the potion away in disgust, knowing that it would just poison her friend. Hex pulled out a vial with pink liquid in it, and began to analyze it when she felt two bony hands on her shoulders.

Hex leapt slightly and turned around. She balled up her fists ready to fight if she had to. She went limp with relief when she saw Gristine.

"Are you alright Hex?" Gristine asked.

"I'm fine…" Hex answered in a raspy tone.

Hex turned around and picked up a vial to analyze the pink liquid in inside, when she felt it slip out of her hand. Hex watched as the vial hit the ground and shattered.

"Damn it!" Hex shouted.

"Maybe you should get some rest Hex. It isn't good for you to stay up all night." Gristine said, worry coating his tone.

"I can't sleep now; I have to find a cure for Cynder. What if she looses control and we have to fight her? You know that most of the townsfolk wouldn't hesitate to kill her."

"I understand that but it's not good for you to stay awake all night like this. Get some sleep Hex. I'll experiment with the potions and see if I can find something to help Cynder."

Hex looked down at the floor, contemplating Gristine's words. She could feel herself shaking, and she knew her lab partner was right. She sighed sadly and then spoke.

"Okay I'll get some rest…" with those words Hex limped away to her room so she could sleep, fear for Cynder flooding her.

Cynder stared at the wall boredom seeping through her. For everyone's safety she had been prohibited from leaving the Starway tower. She glared in disgust at the mirror she sat in front of as she saw that she was still radiating black magic. She wished that Hex would hurry up and find a potion that would help her.

"Oh what's the point?" Cynder snapped. She had no clue why she felt so bitter, she just did. A knock at the door made Cynder pause in her lament.

"Come in!" Cynder called.

Spyro, Sophia, and Flameslinger walked in to the room. Sophia looked a lot better then she had the last time Cynder saw her. Sophia's skin was now the healthy shade of green it was before, her eyes had more life in them, and her eye lids were no longer covered in mucus. She had gained back some weight, and she was able to walk without help again. Of course Flameslinger still stayed by her side rather she needed him or not.

"Hi Cynder, we heard you were having a tough time so we came to cheer you up!" Sophia said enthusiastically.

"Thanks! God knows I need some entertainment that won't kill me!" Cynder said, forcing her voice to sound light and happy.

"So um, Cynder how have you been keeping yourself occupied?" Flameslinger asked awkwardly.

"I've been staring at the wall and wishing Hex would find a potion to get rid of the dark energies inside me. It's pretty dull in comparison to fighting Darko." Cynder said cheerfully.

Sophia tensed up upon hearing Darko's name, but she said nothing.

"Speaking of Darko, where is he now?" Cynder asked her friends.

The three skylanders shuffled there feet awkwardly, and didn't answer.

"Where is Darko?" Cynder asked once again, anxiety starting to build inside her.

Flameslinger mumbled something Cynder didn't hear.

"What?" Cynder asked.

Flameslinger mumbled again.

"I don't understand a word you're saying…" Cynder said in disapproval.

"Oh for crying out loud! Darko is in the skylands!" Spyro snapped.

Cynder just stared blankly at Spyro, not comprehending what he said. Suddenly the words he spoke rang in her ears, and she understood what Spyro had told her. Cynder began to laugh in hysterics.

"You're kidding right? There's no way in hell Darko could be in the skylands. Cynder gasped between laughter.

"But he is…" Flameslinger said.

"That's it! I'm not going to take this shit anymore!" Cynder howled.

Cynder's silver eyes turned a bright and vivid red color, and she ran to the entrance of the Starway tower. She charged the door, causing it to collapse. She then ran outside and spread her wings widely, and flew in to the sky.

"Cynder come back!" Spyro called to the demented dragoness.

"Tell me where Darko is!" Cynder snarled, as furry flooded her.

"NO! You can't fight him alone!" Spyro shouted.

"Don't underestimate me Spyro…." Cynder warned him.

"I'm not underestimating you! I know for certain that you can't fight him alone!" Spyro called to her.

Cynder looked down and saw Sophia and Flameslinger racing to stand besides Spyro. The sight gave Cynder the perfect idea. Cynder charged towards Sophia and grabbed the small elf, dragging her in to the sky.

"Help!" Sophia wailed.

Flameslinger raised his bow, ready to shoot Cynder, when Spyro charged him and knocked the bow out of his hands.

"Do not shoot Cynder!" Spyro commanded.

"But she's going to kill Sophia!" Flameslinger cried out angrily.

Spyro whacked Flameslinger with his tail, knocking the elf to the ground. He then leapt on top of Flameslinger and pinned him down.

"Cynder listen to me, you have to stop this now!" Spyro called out.

"Tell me where Darko is or the girl gets it!" Cynder snarled. She then put a claw over Sophia's throat and mad a small cut.

The cut wouldn't hurt Sophia, but it caused her to tremble. Tears leapt in to her eyes as she realized she might die.

Spyro bent his head down in resignation, before saying, "Darko had taken over a small maubu village in Stone town. You will be able to find him in the rumbling ravine."

"Thank you!" Cynder cried out. She then dropped Sophia.

Spyro allowed Flameslinger to get to his feet, and the elf immediately leapt and caught Sophia. Spyro looked at the sky in horror, wondering what Cynder could do. He sighed sadly, and then ran to find Hex.

Gristine's eyes poured over the book in his hands, searching for anything that could help Cynder. Gristine had taken on Hex's job while the undead sorceress slept. One herb that the book spoke of caught Gristine's attention. It was called a Light lily. The description for the Light lily claimed that it could dispel dark magic. Gristine figured that if Cynder had enough of a Light lily brew, she would be able to transform back to normal.

Gristine closed the dusty herbal book, and set to work on creating the potion. Gristine was just about to search the cabinet for any Light lily plants when a loud knock at the door caught his attention. He watched as Spyro, Flameslinger, and Sophia ran through the door. Gristine briefly wondered why every door in the skylands was so easy to break, but he realized that those thoughts were insignificant to his task.

"You guys have to be quiet Hex is asleep and…." Gristine attempted to speak.

"We don't care. Cynder has gone bat shit insane and we need to track her down before she can kill herself or anyone else." Spyro babbled.

Gristine stared blankly at them and then asked, "Do you know where she is?"

"The Rumbling Ravine." Spyro stated.

"Why there?" Gristen asked.

"Darko is there. No more questions we have to find Cynder." Spyro said.

Gristine sighed, and then drifted over to Hex.

"Hex, wake up…" Gristine said.

Hex eyes fluttered open and she yawned.

"Have you found a potion that could help Cynder?" Hex asked in a groggy tone.

"Um, no. bad news Hex, Cynder has lost control over her dark magic." Gristine explained.

"What?" Hex gasped, leaping up from the chair she slept in.

She nearly fell to the floor but Gristine caught her.

"What do you mean Cynder lost control over her dark magic!" Hex exclaimed.

"He means exactly what he said." Spyro stated coldly.

"Why weren't you working on the potion Hex? You knew that Cynder could loose control at any moment!" Spyro growled at Hex.

Tears fell from Hex's eyes and she said, "I was working on the potion…"

"That's not what it looked like to me!" Spyro snapped.

Hex turned away, unable to meet the purple dragon's glare.

"It isn't Hex's fault! It's mine…. She was overworked so I told her to get some rest. I'm sorry that I didn't get the potion done on time to help Cynder. Gristine said calmly.

"Spyro looked down at the floor shame in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Hex, I shouldn't have yelled at you. As for you Gristine we'll talk later."

With those words Spyro, Flameslinger and Sophia ran out side.

Gristine sighed in resentment. How dare Spyro accuse Hex of slacking off!

"We have to go with them…" Hex said.

"You're too tired to go after Cynder, get some more rest…." Gristine said.

"No! I have to find my friend. I've watched my friends die before because there was nothing I could do to save them. There is something I can do for Cynder though, and I won't let her die. Nothing you say can stop me Gristine." With those words Hex ran out of the laboratory.

Gristine watched his lab partner depart, and immediately went after her. There was no way in hell that he was letting Darko harm her again!

Spyro stood in front of the skylanders, telling them what had happened to Cynder. He said that they would all have to go to Stone town and confront Darko, if they were going to end his reign of terror. He quickly rallied the army together and led them to the portal to stone town. Sophia and Flameslinger ran side by side, and were surprised to see Hex running with them as well.

"What are you doing here?" Sophia asked the undead sorceress.

"I have to find Cynder!" Hex responded.

Sophia had no clue why Hex was so determined to save Cynder from her plight, but she had no time to wonder as she leapt in to the portal.

Sophia looked around at stone town, taking in its immense size. Trees lined the walls of Stone Town, and there were many hills and slopes. Sophia stopped looking around when she saw a small village, with fire rising from it. she heard a gasp from one of the skylanders and noticed Bash looking like he was going to pass out.

"What's wrong Bash?" Sophia asked the earth skylander.

"That burning village is the village of Kimaka. I used to live there before I became a skylander."

"We have to help them!" Sophia declared.

With those words, she and Bash ran towards the flames.

Flameslinger, Zap, Whirlwind, and Gillie followed Sophia and Bash.

Zap and Gillie sprayed water all over the burning village, while Whirlwind used her wings to pitch dirt on to the flames. Bash rolled around spraying sand on to the flames, and Sophia and Flameslinger evacuated the villagers.

Screams filled the air as more fire rained down on the village. Sophia looked up to see Darko spitting fire at village. Shock ran through Sophia as she noticed Cynder running through the clouds. The black dragoness launched her self at Darko, and tore at his back.

Darko screeched in agony, and lashed out at Cynder with his back legs. Cynder flew off of Darko's back, but did not fall. She reared up and slashed at Darko's eyes. Blood seeped from Darko's eyes, and he stopped throwing fire at the village of Kimaka. He whipped around and blasted Cynder with black fire. The black dragoness shielded her face, and then lunged at Darko. She locked her teeth on to Darko's throat and began to tear at it. Blood rained from the sky as the two opponents fought each other.

Sophia winced as blood fell on to her forehead and she briefly wondered if it was Cynder's or Darko's.

"Come on, we have to move out, all the villagers have been evacuated and are awaiting orders from Master Eon." Flameslinger told Sophia.

Sophia who was too stunned by the fight above her didn't move. Flameslinger grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

The vicious fight above continued. Many of the villagers were cheering for Cynder as she slashed wildly at her adversary. Darko's right wing was torn and blood gushed out of it, showering the burnt village of Kimaka. The black beast was struggling to keep himself in the air. Cynder had multiple injuries on her. Her ears were bleeding, and there was a large bruise on her face from when Darko had kicked her. Her wings were shredded and yet she did not fall. Sophia briefly wondered if this was because of the dark magic inside Cynder.

Darko whipped around in a full circle, striking Cynder in the head with his tail. Sophia watched in horror as the black dragoness crumpled and fell from the sky. Spyro lunged upward and grabbed the black dragoness. Cynder lashed out at him, trying desperately to break free so she could fight Darko again. Spyro kept telling her that it was over, but Cynder was still reeling for a fight.

"Skylanders hear me! You will pay for what you have done to me! You will suffer for exiling me, and as I listen to your agonized death shrieks I will laugh!" Darko snarled viciously. His voice sounded deeper and slightly distorted. Despite the beating he took from Cynder though, his voice was still filed with power.

With those words Darko flew off towards the Rumbling Ravine.

Sophia watched Cynder lash out at Spyro, and saw that Flameslinger, Cracky, and Gillie were helping Spyro to pin her down. The demented dragoness blew black fire at them, and Sophia winced as she saw Spyro whack Cynder over the head. The second blow stilled the dragoness, and the other skylanders backed away from her.

Sophia ran to Flameslinger and asked "Is Cynder okay?"

"She'll be fine. But we have to keep her chained up until we find away to get her back to normal. We can't risk having her attack us."

Sophia looked down at the floor as tears came to her eyes. Flameslinger wrapped his arms around her and murmured soothingly to her. Sophia gained no comfort from his embrace as she looked out at the destruction of the village.


	11. Chapter 11

The skylanders had set up camp, in the destroyed village of Kimaka. They had volunteered to help the maubu rebuild there village. Hex was shoving a pile of burnt logs away from a villager's home when Sophia darted up to her.

"Cynder is awake and she wants to talk to you." Sophia reported.

Hex nodded in acknowledgement, and ran to find Cynder. Hex's stomach churned when she saw the state her friend was in. Cynder's face and body were covered with bruises and scratches, her wings were torn and her face drooped. Hex wondered if the villagers had tortured Cynder. Hex's unease grew as she noticed that Cynder was chained on a wooden platform. Metallic shackles were wrapped around her paws and wings, and her body was stretched in a very uncomfortable looking position. The dragoness continued to radiate dark magic.

"Hi Hex its great to see you. Is Spyro, Sophia, and Flameslinger here as well?" Cynder said in a drugged voice.

"No… I can bring them to you though." Hex replied.

"Good, because Sophia and Flameslinger really need to hear what I must say." With those words Cynder closed her radiant silver eyes.

Hex was glad that her friend was in control of her dark form, but she still wanted Cynder to be back to normal. Hex found Sophia and Flameslinger by a hollow log; she ran up to them and bluntly said, "Cynder wants to see you two."

Flameslinger and Sophia nodded there heads in acknowledgement, and followed Hex.

"Ah, you brought them." Cynder said her voice still drugged.

"Yes… what did they put you on Cynder?" Hex replied.

"Oh, some random sedative. That's unimportant though. What is important is that those two idiots start giving you some credit." Cynder said, pointing at Flameslinger and Sophia.

"What do you mean give her some credit?" Sophia asked.

"Because with out Hex, Flameslinger would never have found you." Cynder replied.

"Why?" Sophia questioned.

"Hex somehow knew where Darko was hiding out. She brought me and six others to the ice cave. If it weren't for her you could have died…" Flameslinger explained to Sophia, his voice starting to tremble.

Sophia nodded to Flameslinger, curling herself close to him. Flameslinger managed to get a grip on his emotions as he choked out the words "Thank you for helping me save her Hex…"

"Your welcome." Hex replied.

"What time are you guys going to attack Darko?" Cynder asked.

"Were going after him in the morning." Hex replied.

Cynder's eyes turned red for a moment as she said, "I look forward to our final fight."

"I doubt it will be our final fight." Hex grumbled bitterly.

"Mark my words Hex; this will be our last stand against him." Cynder responded, her eyes starting to change to a controlled silver color.

"Cynder, do you know what Darko meant when he said the skylanders would pay for exiling him?" Hex asked.

Cynder hesitated for a moment before saying, "Darko was once a skylander Hex. He came to us at the ruins, and requested to join us shortly after Malefor's defeat. Master Eon knew there was something wrong with Darko, and denied his request, I however persuaded Master Eon to let Darko become a skylander. For a while everything seemed perfectly okay, no one could deny that Darko was dedicated when he was sent on a mission. The problem was that he was too dedicated. Whenever Darko was sent to simply capture an enemy he would kill them. Darko would stop at nothing to complete his mission, even if the others he worked were put at risk. Often times I was sent to be his partner considering no one else could stand his brash attitude. He would normally leave me to fend for myself on missions. Those were the times when I relied upon my dark magic to save my life. One day we were sent on a mission to track an army of wasps that were terrorizing a clan of griffins. The wasps attacked the gryphon's camp, and killed many of there soldiers. Darko came up with a plan to lead the wasps in to a cave, and then blow up the cave. Everyone agreed until they realized they had no way to lead the wasps in to the cave. Darko proposed that a gryphon should give up its life and be wasp bait. As you can imagine the clan was outraged by this, and denied Darko's plan. For a long time he just sulked around and bugged the griffins, then suddenly he stopped sulking and became incredibly bitter….

Flash back to the night before the attack on the wasps.

Cynder walked through a pine forest searching for her partner Darko. The two dragons had been sent on a mission to stop a colony of wasps from attacking a clan of griffins. Cynder had her doubts about how useful she and Darko would be, but Darko had accepted the mission, and she knew it was a bad idea to leave him unsupervised, considering his brash personality. For two whole months the two skylanders had lived away from the skylands, having to live with the griffins in order to help them. Cynder and Darko had just left a meeting about how to best solve the wasp problem. Darko had suggested the idea of leading some wasps in to a cave, and blowing up the cave. Everyone agreed to this plan. The second step was to come up with a way to put this plan in action. Since no one could figure out decent wasp bait, Darko had suggested using a gryphon to lure the wasps to there doom.

Chaos had broken out at the meeting when Darko suggested this, and they quickly ditched the idea of trapping the wasps and exploding them. Darko had stormed out of the meeting upon hearing the griffins reject his idea, and Cynder had pursued him to make sure he didn't get himself in to trouble.

"Darko! Darko!" Cynder called out, praying Darko would respond to her calls. There was no answer.

She was deeply concerned about her friend. Darko had been around Cynder for her entire life, and Cynder often wondered if the mighty black dragon was her brother. After all they had both hatched in the Underworld on the night of the lunar eclipse.

"Darko! Where are you?" Cynder cried out again.

"I'm up here Cynder!" A muffled voice called down to her.

Cynder sighed in relief and leapt up to the tree Darko perched at.

"We have to go back to camp Darko, the griffins are wondering where were at."

"They won't be wondering for long…" Darko muttered.

"What do you mean?" Cynder asked.

"I saw the swarm coming towards the camp." Darko responded.

"We have to warn them!" Cynder shouted, bracing herself to leap off the branch.

Darko pulled her back roughly and shouted, "We can't go to the camp!"

"But the griffins need to know there about to be attacked!" Cynder exclaimed attempting to fly away, only to be pulled down by Darko again.

"Don't worry about them; the wasp problem will be solved, by nightfall."

"What makes you say that?" Cynder asked, surprised by how confident Darko was.

"I met up with a rogue gryphon by the name of Cyross shortly after the meeting. He told me that the only way to stop the wasps was to have them come to the gryphon camp, and decimate them by bombing the gryphon camp." Darko responded.

Cynder stared blankly, and felt herself tremble as Darko's words sunk in.

"You're going to bomb the camp….?" Cynder choked out.

"Of course. Its time we solve the wasp problem once and for all Cynder. I'm getting tired of putting up with these pigheaded assholes. There idiots and nothing more. If they were stupid enough to stand in front the fire, then there obviously going to get burnt. Darko growled.

"But there are women and children in the camp… Darko think about all the innocents who could die tonight because of what you're planning to do. "Cynder said, desperately trying to get her partner to see sense.

"If a few women and children die then so be it. It isn't my problem, its there problem." Darko said coldly.

"Darko it's not just a few innocents who will die! Families will die! People with children or siblings to look after will die! How can you not see how wrong this is?" Cynder roared at Darko, anger bubbling up inside her. How could he fail to see what destruction he could cause? 

"ENOUGH CYNDER!" Darko roared in fury.

Cynder flattened herself to the tree limb she perched on and glared at Darko. She spread her wings and took to the sky. She screamed as fury, grief, betrayal, and guilt surged through her. She knew she had to warn the griffin clan, and yet she could not betray Darko. Horrible thoughts spun in her mind, and she suddenly felt claws gripping at her back. She turned her head to see Darko glaring at her.

"You better not even think about ratting me out you little bitch! Now come with me, I don't know if the fire will reach this far in to the forest, but we better be on the safe side."

With those words Darko grabbed Cynder and dragged her away.

At the end of the day, Cynder didn't even get to make the choice to warn the griffins, or to stay silent. She had taken to long in contemplating what to do. The sun had set, and the sky ignited with bomb fire. The acidic scent of smoke filled the air and screams echoed throughout the canyons that Darko and Cynder sat in. Darko had taken Cynder up to a high cliff overlooking a canyon. The canyon was the passage way to the gryphon's camp. Cynder and Darko sat side by side, watching the bombs go off. Every time a particularly powerful bomb went off Cynder would shield her face. Darko however wouldn't even blink.

"How many bombs did you plant?" Cynder asked trying not to throw up while she spoke.

"Fifty two. Number thirty eight just went off." Darko responded.

Cynder continued to watch the sad scene below her. Shock ran through her as she saw a small gryphon flying out of the flames. The hatchling looked like it was going to fall out of the sky. Its feathers were black, and it no longer had a beak. Blood dripped from the child's wings and feathers rained off of him. Cynder felt her heart drop as she recognized the hatchling. It was her friend and adopted child, Oakwin.

"Oakwin!" Cynder shrieked, preparing to fly to him and save him.

Cynder felt Darko's teeth sink in to her tail.

"Let go! I have to save Oakwin!" Cynder screamed.

Darko did not release his grip on Cynder. Cynder watched numbly as another bomb went off sending a wave of fire at Oakwin. She watched as her adopted son became a living torch.

"NO!" Cynder wailed.

All that was left of the young gryphon were ashes. The ashes of Oakwin rained down on the blazing camp.

"No, no, no…" Cynder sobbed.

Darko released his grip on Cynder, and she ran to the back of the cave. All through the night she screamed her grief to the sky, not caring who heard her. Her terrible screams finally stopped when Darko knocked her unconscious.

Darko and Cynder had left the gryphon's territory in the afternoon. The reason why they hadn't left earlier was because Darko insisted on investigating the ruined camp and making sure no life remained. When the two skylanders finally reached there home they were immediately greeted by Eon.

"I assume you have successfully completed your mission?" Eon asked.

"Indeed. No wasps remain." Darko declared.

"No griffins remain either." Cynder said coldly.

Darko didn't respond to Cynder's comment, he simply flew home.

"Cynder, I must speak with you and the other skylanders." Eon said.

"Should I fetch Darko?" Cynder rasped.

"No, just come with me." Eon said.

Cynder asked no questions and followed Eon.

Cynder saw the other skylanders gathered around the shade tree. The shade tree was a tall pine tree that stood over the skylands. The skylanders gathered here often because of how pretty the tree was. The skylanders turned to face Cynder.

"Welcome back Cynder!" they exclaimed. Cynder smiled weakly at them.

"How was your mission Cynder?" Spyro asked.

"Terrible…" Cynder sighed.

"Cynder, are the griffins still under attack by the wasps?" Sonny (Sonic boom) asked.

Cynder's stomach churned as she remembered that Sonny had once been apart of the decimated gryphon clan.

"There free of the wasps." Cynder choked out.

"Great! How are they recovering from the war? Did you and Darko help them to rebuild?" Sonny continued to question Cynder.

Cynder decided that Sonny had to know the truth. Cynder tried to speak, but her mouth wouldn't move. When she finally managed to open her mouth a small squeak emerged. Cynder had to swallow multiple times before she could say any words.

"I'm sorry Sonny. Your clan is dead. They all died in a bombing incident…"

The pleasant smile dropped off of Sonny's face as she heard this. Tears filled her eyes and she said "There all dead…."

Cynder nodded mutely. Sonny threw back her head and wailed in sorrow. Her screams echoed off of the tree they sat under and sent shivers down Cynder spine. She realized that this was how she screamed when Oakwin died.

"Why was there a bombing incident?" Spyro asked.

Cynder stayed silent, not wanting Darko to be hurt.

"Cynder what happened?" Eon asked.

Cynder took a deep breath of air and said, "I bombed the camp so the wasps would die… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it. It was a stupid idea…"

Spyro's eyes widened in shock, and his mouth gapped open. An odd gurgling sound came from him, as if he was trying to say something, but it got stuck in his throat.

Eon stared at Cynder and said, "I'm not mad you for the bombing incident. I am however disappointed that you are lying about who caused it. I know you would never have bombed a camp that had children in it, and I know that Darko would. Why are you lying for him?"

"He's my brother…" Cynder sighed sadly.

"Bring him to the shade tree at 6:00 tonight. Don't be late, and don't ask why." Eon said to Cynder. "You are dismissed."

Cynder limped to her home and slept until 5:55, all the while trying to get Sonny's grief stricken wails out of her head.

Cynder watched as Darko stood before a clan of furious skylanders. Eon stared down at Darko and spoke.

"Darko, there have been to many instances where you have put the skylanders in danger, to many times where you have disobeyed orders, and to many times when you have crossed the line on a mission. You are no longer worthy to hold the title of skylander. If you are not gone before dawn, then we will have you imprisoned. "

Darko stared at Eon murderess rage in his eyes. He began to snarl at the old portal master.

"You have no rights to outcast me! I simply did what had to be done on those missions!"

"You did what had to be done! You dare claim that the destruction of an entire clan is justice!" Eon bellowed.

Cynder shrank back as she heard Eon's voice. She had never heard her master this furious before.

"They were idiots Eon, and if the bombs didn't kill them then something else would have. I'm surprised that I'm being cast out over something as trivial as this."

Shrieks of fury rose up as Darko said that. Sonny lunged at Darko, and was quickly pulled back by Sunburn. Camo reared up and spat a solar seed at Darko. Darko deflected the attack with his wings.

"Be gone now Darko! And never come back!" Eon ordered the black dragon.

Darko turned to run away but then looked back.

"Here me skylanders, and know I will return. Maybe not today, or even a year from now, but I will return, and mark my words that when I do you'll all wish you had never known the name of Darko!"

"We all ready do wish we never knew you!" Spyro called out.

Darko lunged at Spyro and slashed at his face. Spyro reeled back and covered his face with his paw in an effort to stop the bleeding. Darko then rose in to the air and shrieked with fury. Cynder watched him fade from her sight regretting the fact that she had even spoke of the bomb incident. His words echoed in her ears filling her with dread. She could only pray that Darko never returned.

"I had always feared that he may return ever since that dreadful day, but I guess I never really thought about the consequences of him returning…" Cynder concluded, her silver eyes filled with sorrow.

Hex, Flameslinger, and Sophia stayed silent for a long while not knowing how to respond to hearing such a dreadful tale. Hex finally broke the silence by saying "Why did no one tell me that Darko was once a Skylander?"

"We didn't think it was important." Cynder replied in an apologetic tone.

Hex's hands trembled, and she turned to run away when Sophia called to her.

"How do you know Darko Hex? You must have had some type of history with him. Every time we confronted him you seemed so determined to kill him. Why is that?"

Hex whipped around ready to respond sharply to Sophia's question, but she decided that she didn't want to get in an argument right now, not when she was still dazed over what Cynder told them.

"I knew Darko really well. There was a time when I considered him a friend…."

Flash back to Hex's misadventure in the underworld

Hex looked around the dark and gloomy place she had wandered in to, fear filling her. There was no light in this gloomy place, and many spiders roamed about. Hex had always been terrified of spiders. She searched around for any sign of her little sister. She was after all in this hell hole because her beloved younger sister had been taken here. Hex walked around the deathlike realm praying that she would find her sister.

A snapping sound caught Hex's attention, and she turned to see three skeletons armed with bows and arrows, advancing toward her. Hex chanted a spell quickly, and the three skeletons caught fire. They screamed in agony as the fire burnt them. Hex fled from the scene terror coursing through her. She didn't want to watch the skeletons burn, she just wanted to find her sister and get home.

Hex ran through a river, trying to cross it. The river held her tightly though, and she couldn't escape its deathly embrace. The ten year old apprentice sorceress flailed desperately in an effort to pull herself out of the river. She finally pulled herself out when she hit shallow water. Hex continued to run until she smacked in to something.

The thing she crashed in to had felt wet and slimy, reminding Hex of a time when she picked up a slug and tried to eat it. She was only five at the time, and knew better then to eat slugs now. Hex looked up and saw a hideous face. It was the face of a goblin, except it was stuck on a box. Hex laughed nervously at its stupid and somewhat creepy expression.

"What are you laughing at odd one?" the box shaped goblin asked.

Hex screamed as she heard it speak. She had no clue boxes could talk! The young elf then ran away as quick as she could. Hex stopped running when she felt something slippery beneath her feet. She fell to the ground, and heard an angry clicking sound. Hex looked down to face a huge black widow with glowing green spots on her back. The black widow's eyes glowed with red light. Hex screamed again and continued to run away. Unfortunately she ran right in to a hole.

Hex trembled as cold skeletal hands gripped her. She looked around and stared in to the face of an angry skeleton. Hex screamed, waking all the dead around her. Hex slapped the skeleton making it lose its grip on her. She then saw a vine dangling in to the hole and leapt at it. Hex climbed the vine and ran as quick as she could until she found an unoccupied boulder. The poor child hid behind the boulder and cried.

"Hush little child don't make a sound. T-bone's gonna give you a broken bone." An eerie and somewhat demented voice sang.

Hex stopped crying and looked up to see an odd skeleton holding out a broken bone to her.

"Go on take it, it can't poison ya." The skeleton said.

Hex sniffed and took the bone from the strange skeleton who found her. The skeleton smiled at her, and patted Hex on the head. Hex felt awkward about being patted on the head by a skeleton, but she smiled at him, and thanked him for the bone.

"Your welcome. What's your name little mite?" The odd skeleton asked.

Hex hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should tell this stranger her name or not. For one thing she knew nothing about him, and for another she didn't appreciate him calling her a mite. She finally decided to give him her name.

"My name is Hex."

"Hex. It sounds like a curse to me!" The skeleton laughed.

Hex glared at him.

"My name is T-bone." The skeleton told her completely oblivious of her annoyance.

"What brings you to the underworld Hex?" T-bone asked.

"My sister was taken here." Hex replied.

"Oh so your on a rescue mission!" T-bone exclaimed clapping his hands.

"Yes…" Hex replied.

"Why didn't you say so! I can lead you around the Underworld! You'll find your mite in no time with me as your guide!"

T-bone grabbed Hex by her hand and started to drag her around the underworld, pointing out various places such as Skeleton's rest, Widow's refuge, and Box goblin swamp. Hex was rather amused by the fact that the box shaped goblins were called box goblins, and asked T-bone why they couldn't come up with anything more creative.

"Well you know, when you die you loose your brain cells, and when you loose your brain cells you can't be creative anymore."

"Well that's dumb!" Hex exclaimed angrily.

"Heh, if you want dumb talk to Malefor's apes, there the living definition of dumb."

"Who's Malefor?" Hex asked.

T-bone covered her mouth with his hand and hissed "Do not speak his name!"

Hex moved T-bone's hand off her mouth and asked "Why not?"

T-bone looked around nervously before saying, "Because he can hear us. Malefor has eyes and ears everywhere."

"Why is that bad?"

"Malefor is king of the undead, and he often punishes the undead down here for unjust reasons. There is a girl I know, she is cursed to forever sing her words because she failed to please Malefor."

With those words Hex heard a loud wailing sound. She realized that the wailing was some one singing a song filled with sorrow. Hex shivered as the sad song vibrated in the core of her being.

"Do you hear that? It is Slavaka. She is the one I was telling you about. The one who was cursed by Malefor." T-bone said.

Hex nodded her head, signaling that she understood. An odd slithering sound caught Hex and T-bone's attention and they turned to see an army of spiders facing them.

"Spiders! I'm out of here!" T-bone yelped. He then ran away leaving Hex to fend for herself.

A spider leapt on top of Hex and tried to sink it fangs in to her skin. Hex swatted the spider away from her, not wanting it to bite her. She had heard tales of people who died from a spiders bite. A large black widow lunged forward and spat a ball of poison at Hex. Hex fell to the floor as the venom struck her. She tried to stand, but she kept slipping in the venom she was coated in. tears filled her eyes as she realized she was going to die.

Just as the black widow was about to strike again, a strange creature landed on top of it's back and sank his claws in. the black widow howled in agony, and then fell lifelessly to the ground. The spiders began to shriek as they saw there comrade die. They then leapt toward Hex and tried to kill her again. The creature that killed the spider landed in front of Hex and called to her.

"Don't just sit there! Scram!"

Hex stumbled to her feet and fled, then turned back. She couldn't leave the creature to die! Hex took a deep breath and ran back in to the fight.

"What the hell are you doing!" The creature spat as he saw her.

"I'm helping you!" Hex replied.

Hex's eyes glowed silver and radiant white light surrounded her. A wave of light flowed from her fingers and struck the spiders. The spiders made no sound as they fell to the floor. The larger spiders had survived the blast, but the smaller ones had died. Hex fell to the floor as her sudden burst of energy left her. She felt very weak and afraid at the moment.

The creature that saved her stared in awe.

"Ho- how did you do that?" He choked out.

"I don't know…" Hex said weakly.

A cunning look came to the creatures eyes as he stared at Hex. It vanished in a flash.

"Are you alright?" he asked Hex.

"I'm fine. Can you tell me who you are, and what you are?" Hex said.

The creature looked oddly at her and then said, "I am a dragon, and my name is Darko. How is it that you've never seen a dragon before?"

"I'm not from around here. I used to live in a fishing village but it was destroyed by the undead." Hex replied.

"If you live in a fishing village then you should have seen a dragon a few times in your life." Darko stated bluntly.

"But dragons live down here don't they?"

"Hell no! Dragons need to fly in order to survive. We are creatures of the sky! Do you not see my wings?"

"I see them…" Hex murmured.

"Go home kid, you don't belong here."

"I can't go home! My sister could still be trapped down here! I need to find her! And for the record you don't belong here either! You said so yourself that you're a creature of the sky!"

"I'm on a mission though…" Darko responded.

"So am I. I have to save my sister!" Hex yelled.

"Perhaps we could team up, after all two sets of eyes see farther then one." Darko proposed.

Hex liked the idea of having an ally. She didn't like being on her in this place.

"Okay we can team up. My name is Hex by the way."

"Great, now let's go to the citadel of Malefor, your sister will most likely be there."

The duo traveled through the Underworld for five days and had gotten to know a lot about each other. Darko had told Hex that he was on a quest to find his family, who had been snatched by some undead. Hex had shared a secret with Darko that she only shared with people she truly trusted. She had told him that Hex was just a nickname and that her true name was Hexsesia.

"Why do you go by the name of Hex then?" Darko asked as the two friends rested under the Bone tower.

"I don't really like my true name, a lot of the kids in my home had trouble pronouncing it, and often teased me about how odd it sounds, and so I simply choose to go by the name of Hex."

Darko looked at the sky and said "In two days time we will reach Malefors citadel, and find out what happened to our families.

"I can't wait to see Sophia again…" Hex sighed in contentment as she thought about reuniting with her little sister.

"Indeed and I can't wait to see my sister again." Darko responded.

"What is your sister's name?" Hex asked.

"Her name is Cynder. You'll probably meet her when we reach Malefor's citadel."

The two companions stayed silent until they set off again. The two days of the journey passed like lightning to Hex, and the stood before a forbidding citadel.

The citadel stood approximately one hundred feet tall. Statues of gargoyles surrounded the citadel and glared down angrily at Hex and Darko. There teeth were bared in a hideous snarl.

"This is the home of your king?" Hex asked nervously. wondering how anyone could bear living in a place as gloomy as this.

"My dear Hexsesia you do not have to worry so much, we are on safe land here." Darko told her.

"Right… safe land…" Hex muttered.

The two companions walked to the door of the citadel, and Darko emitted a loud call.

"I seek a conference with king Malefor. I have news of importance to him!"

Silence. And then the wooden doors of the citadel opened. Darko and Hex walked in to the citadel, searching for Malefor's throne room. Hex looked around the inside of the citadel, taking in its appearance. Torches lit with green flames lined the stone walls, water dripped from cracks in the ceiling. Hex saw Darko descending a stone staircase, and quickly ran after him.

The duo emerged in a small, dark room. Hex felt herself step in a warm thick liquid. She drew her foot back in disgust knowing that she hadn't stepped in water.

"Is this the one?" a deep voice boomed.

Hex leapt in fright as she heard it, and she moved closer to Darko.

"Indeed master…" Darko said.

The dark room suddenly became illuminated as purple light bounced off the wall. Hex squinted, trying to adjust her eyes to the sudden illumination. Hex gasped as she saw a large dragon towering over her.

The dragon had hideously decayed black flesh. Some patches of flesh had been scraped away causing the bones to show through. The decayed dragon had a fang that jutted out of his chin. His wings were torn, and littered with patches of dead skin. He had a purple eye in his left eye socket and an amber one in his right eye socket. The powerful scent of death struck Hex, causing her to gag.

"Do not show such disrespect in the face of the master!" Darko snarled whacking Hex over the head with his tail.

Hex fell in front of the decayed dragon, and stared in horror at him.

"Who are you?" Hex choked out.

"My name is Malefor, and you will be my apprentice."

"What do you mean? I don't want to be your apprentice! I just want to find my sister and go home!" Hex cried out.

"So you refuse to accept me as your mentor?" Malefor asked.

"Yes! Take me to my sister!"

"Your sister isn't here…"

Hex froze up as she heard those words.

"What do you mean she's not here?" Hex gasped.

"I mean exactly what I said. Darko lied to you about taking you to your sister. Darko is my apprentice. Unfortunately he lacks the skills that I require him to have, so I had him search the underworld for someone who was actually useful. When the spiders attacked you, you didn't run, instead you helped Darko fight them off. What was more interesting was the fact that you unleashed quite a powerful wave of magic despite being so young. Darko was at least intelligent enough to know you could be useful to me, so he brought you here. You have one last chance Hex accept my offer to train you or else.

Fury flooded Hex and she shouted, "I will not be your apprentice! I just want to go home!"

Malefor glared in disapproval and flicked his tail.

Cynder, Darko, take Hex to her prison cell.

Darko and a black dragoness leapt towards Hex. Cynder pinned Hex down while Darko struck Hex on the head with his tail. Hex's vision blurred as the stinging strikes continued. She took seven more strikes to her head before loosing consciousness, and for a brief moment Hex wondered if she had died.

When Hex awoke she found herself chained in a cage made out of bones. She tried to move, but was pulled to the ground by the chains she wore. Suddenly Hex remembered everything that had happened to her and she began to cry.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Hex wailed. She wanted to go home, she wanted out of this cage, most of all she wanted to see Sophia again.

Grief filled Hex as she remembered who had brought her to this hell hole. Darko, someone she had thought of as her best friend had betrayed her. Hex spent her time in a delirium, feeling as if she was floating outside her body. No one came to speak to her, so she had taken to talking to herself. She kept dreaming about home, and she truly believed that when she awoke she would be home.

Other times Hex dreamed that Darko would say he was pretending to work for Malefor and he would set her free. She wanted to die and yet she still lived. Day in and day out she would cry and scream until her voice died. Hex had no clue how much time had passed, and she didn't have the energy to think about it. Her stomach felt like it was being torn apart, and her arms and legs felt limp. Hex's wrists began to bleed from there constant rubbing against there chains, and her feet had lost all feeling in them. The worst part was that her thoughts felt mangled. Hex started to forget who she was, and why she was in the Underworld. There were times when she woke up and didn't even know she was in the Underworld; she simply believed that she was at her home.

Hex lay against the wall of her prison, trying to remember where she was when she heard an odd clicking sound. Hex tried to stand because she figured a spider was going to attack her, but once again the chains pulled her down. Hex began to cry in hysterics and pull at her chains. Oh how she wished this torment would end.

Hex watched as a black dragoness crawled to her cage. The dragoness inserted her tail in to the lock on the bone cage, and the door swung open. The dragoness stepped inside the cage, and brought her tail down on Hex's chains. Hex flexed her wrist, trying to dispel the stiffness.

"You must go free. Malefor will find us soon, and then you'll have no chance."

Hex didn't reply.

"Hurry up!" the dragoness hissed in desperation.

"Who are you, and why are you setting me free?" Hex rasped.

"You don't deserve to be punished by Malefor. You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. My name is Cynder, and you are Hex. I'm sorry that I can't show you the way out of here, but if my master doesn't know where I am I'll be punished."

"Thank you…" Hex said.

Cynder shook her head and said, "Go now!" Hex leapt out of her cage and ran. She had no clue how she was going to escape this world, but in that moment she didn't care. She simply wanted to be away from Malefor and Darko.

"So you see, I thought Darko was my best friend. Turns out that he was a good for nothing rotten little pest!" Hex said to her companions.

"So Cynder saved your life?" Flameslinger asked.

"Yes. I later learned that Cynder truly was my friend…" Hex murmured.

"Your sister has the same name as me." Sophia stated.

"Yes I assume that's why I hated you so much when we first met."

"How does that work again?" Sophia asked.

"When I first heard of the skylanders I heard that there was a she elf by the name of Sophia. I immediately set out to find the skylanders, hoping that the Sophia that worked with them was my sister. I was wrong of course; I find that I am often wrong…" Hex explained.

Sophia nodded, pondering Hex's words.

"When are we going to fight Darko?" Cynder asked.

"We resume our march to the Rumbling Ravine tomorrow." Flameslinger said.

"Good. Good night guys…" Cynder sighed closing her eyes and sleeping.

Flameslinger and Sophia departed. Hex said good bye to Cynder, and walked back to her makeshift bed. Memories of her journey with Darko flying through her mind.


	12. Chapter 12

Sophia awoke to find herself resting in the ruins at the village of Kimaka. She saw that the sun hadn't risen yet, and everyone else was still asleep. Sophia yawned and stood up, knowing there was no way she would be able to go back to sleep. Memories of what Hex and Cynder told her continued to haunt her. For one thing the bombing of a village and decimation of an entire clan was bound to horrify anyone. And then there was Hex's tale….

Sophia didn't remember any information about her birth parents, nor did she know if she had any siblings. Hearing Hex speak of her little sister had made Sophia envious. Hex had known and remembered her family well, while all Sophia had of her family was her name. Sophia wandered restlessly around the camp eager to continue on to the Rumbling Ravine. Sophia was about to return to her sleeping bag and get some more sleep while she could, when she noticed Hex standing at the camp entrance.

Sophia wondered what Hex could be up to. She was grateful to the undead sorceress for helping Flameslinger find her, but that didn't mean Sophia trusted Hex. After all if there was any moral to Hex's story it would be "be careful about who you trust." Sophia ran to Hex ready to challenge the undead elf.

Hex turned towards Sophia and rose up her fists. She brought her fists down as she realized it was Sophia.

"What do you want?" Hex asked in an affronted tone.

"I wanted to know why you're still awake."

"I'm too nervous to sleep." Hex admitted. "Why are you awake?"

"To tired to sleep if that makes any sense to you." Sophia replied.

"Are you nervous about confronting Darko?" Sophia asked wanting Hex to continue speaking for some reason.

"I always am nervous when I face him. I don't know why, considering the outcome is always the same…"

"We loose…" Sophia stated bluntly.

"We loose." Hex responded in the same tone as Sophia.

"I wonder what Cynder meant when she said that this will be our last confrontation with Darko." Sophia wondered out loud.

"Who knows? The dark magic inside her is probably giving her visions. "Hex replied.

Sophia stayed silent, and then asked "What was it like to have a sister?"

Hex stiffened, and then she sighed sadly. "It was the best feeling in the world to me. Knowing I had someone to protect and care for. My little sister looked up to me, and to be honest I looked up to her, despite her being younger then me. There are often times when I dream of her, but when I awake I feel the same agony of loosing her. You're lucky Sophia that all your friends are still alive. One by one my friends died around me, just like my little sister. I worry for Cynder and Gristine, because I never know when they could die…"

Sophia was stunned that Hex had told her all this, and yet it please her as well. Suddenly Sophia realized that she came to Hex because she wanted to know more about the mysterious undead sorceress, she wanted to be able to trust Hex.

"I wish I had a sister or a brother. I might have siblings, but I just don't know…" Sophia sighed.

"What do you mean you don't know if you have any siblings?" Hex asked.

"I never knew my family Hex, all I remember is that I woke up in a hollow log and was found by a wolf. That wolf gave me the name of Stealth elf and trained me. When he died he told me that the name my birth mother gave me was Sophia. He told me that my destiny rested with the skylanders. So I sought them out in hopes that I could find out about my parents." Sophia explained.

"I never knew that…" Hex whispered.

"Only Flameslinger and Stump Smash knew…" Sophia responded.

They sat in silence until Hex began to shift around restlessly.

"How long will it take for the sun to rise?" Hex grumbled bitterly.

"I don't know. Maybe a few more hours."

"Just great." Hex muttered.

"Maybe we should wake the others and get them to move early." Sophia suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea." Hex said.

"Or we could go track Darko ourselves and confront him!" Sophia suggested enthusiastically.

"I doubt that would work." Hex murmured.

Sophia looked disappointed, but didn't comment.

The two girls sat in a civil silence until the sun rose.

"Hex! Sophia! Were continuing to the ravine now." Spyro called out.

Hex and Sophia stood, and then ran to join Spyro, the skylanders then continued there trek to the Rumbling Ravine.

Darko paced his cave anxiety bubbling up inside him. He had no clue why he felt so afraid, and that drove him crazy. It was moments like this that Darko wondered if getting revenge for something that happened three years ago was worth it. It was also moments like this that convinced Darko that vengeance would liberate him. Darko recalled previous battles of his, and briefly wondered if he should resort to bombing the skylanders. That plan had merit; the only problem was Darko had no clue how to obtain any bombs.

Darko sighed as he continued to pace around the cave at the top of Rumbling Ravine. He wondered if fighting the skylanders was worth it at all. He contemplated giving in and feigning death, but then he would have to live in humiliation for the rest of his life. Darko ran over to where the orb of Ozahkahn lay and stared intently in to it. He was trying to locate the person who had given the bombs to him when he decimated the gryphon camp.

Darko stared in to the orb for three whole hours, and saw nothing. Frustrated by his orb being useless, Darko swatted the artifact with his tail. The black scaled beast quickly decided that this final fight was to be his last confrontation with the skylanders. They had plagued his life for so long…

"That's it! No more running away!" Darko snarled.

It was time that he stopped running and finally killed the damn skylanders. Darko started to cast some shadow spells, warming himself up before the final confrontation. He was ready to end this annoying war once and for all.

The skylanders spread out around the Rumbling Ravine, ready to confront Darko. They had decided that Flameslinger, Hex, and Sophia would go in to the Ravine to confront Darko. If the fight got out of hand they would run to the other skylanders, and have Darko follow them. That way the other skylanders could attack Darko.

Cynder had to be chained to a nearby rock because she had lost control over her dark magic again. The young black dragoness was reeling for a fight with Darko. Sophia watched as Cynder tore furiously at the ground, and gnawed on her chains. She was trying to escape so she could fight Darko.

"Come on Sophia! We have to face Darko!" Flameslinger called to her.

"Coming!" Sophia replied. With those words she bounded after Flameslinger and Hex.

Hex, Sophia, and Flameslinger ascended the rocky slope up to the ravine. They were immediately confronted by Darko.

"I see your back for more Hexsesia. Well fine then, considering we're always fighting one another. Let's get this fight over with so I can get back to searching for a shop to buy bombs from. "

Hex threw a bolt of energy at Darko, and the black dragon deflected it with his wing. Sophia lunged at Darko, and attempted to cut him with her blades. The mighty dragon flung his spiked tail at and flung her away. Sophia crashed in to a rock wall, blood dripping down her face, arms, and back.

"Sophia!" Flameslinger called out.

"I'm okay…." Sophia murmured.

"This is seriously the best you've got?" Darko questioned.

Hex summoned a rain of comet skulls, and was surprised to see they all struck Darko. Darko's eyes flashed for a moment, and he snarled, black magic radiated from him, and he readied himself to attack.

Sophia stood up and lunged at Darko, attempting to bring her blades down on his foot. Darko sent a powerful wave of dark magic at the elf. Hex knew there was no way Sophia could survive the blast, so she leapt towards Sophia, and shoved her companion out of the range of the dark magic. Hex was struck by the powerful wave, and was flung in to a rock wall.

"Hex!" Sophia cried out, wondering why the undead sorceress had saved her.

"Honestly Hex, you get more and more pathetic with each battle we have. Where is that power that you once fought with? Where is the girl who could destroy an entire army single handedly? Seriously, if you fought with the strength you had when we first met, I would be dead by now." Darko taunted.

Hex stumbled to her feet, her eyes blazing.

"You have the gall to call me weak Darko? Well it's about time you learn how powerful I truly am!"

With those words Hex's eyes blazed with black light, the ravine around them seemed to melt away, leaving black shadows in its place. Strange silhouettes ran to Hex, and danced around her. Hex lifted her hand and dark energy radiated from it. Darko looked at his enemy, fear dancing in his eyes.

"You won't escape now Darko!" Hex snarled.

Hex's voice sounded deeper, and distorted. It had a strange echoing quality to it that frightened Sophia.

Darko's eyes widened in terror. Hex's voice was no longer one voice, it was many voices. The voices that were mingled in with Hex's were the voices of people he knew.

Darko heard the voice of Cynder, Eon, Cyross, Spyro, Malefor, Kaos, Glumshanks, Sophia, and Gaul. And of course he heard Hex's voice. The onslaught of voices assailed Darko's ears, and he felt himself tremble. He tried to open his mouth and spit black fire at Hex, but his jaws felt frozen in place.

He felt something strange rising inside of him. He felt like his brain was being torn apart by burning metal claws, and his stomach felt like it was boiling. He felt like he was being stretched out, and he couldn't break to escape the agony. Darko looked down at his paws in horror, and saw that they were being incinerated. He tried to scream, but when his jaws finally unlocked, the only thing that came out of Darko was a mouthful of blood.

Darko collapsed, and realized that he fell because he no longer had paws to hold him up. Darko's eyes dilated in an expression of pure agony. He finally managed to scream. His scream was filled with misery and pain, and it made Sophia shiver. Darko's wail continued to pierce the air as his lower body burnt away. Darko was lying in a pool of his own blood, screaming for the burning to stop. Some bones and organs fell out of Darko and in to the pool of blood. Sophia could only wonder why Darko wasn't dead yet.

Darko's screams ceased suddenly. Sophia watched with horror as strange thorn covered vines grew out of Darko and wrapped around him, causing his shrieks to stop. The thorns cut threw Darko's throat, causing his jugular vein to fall in to the puddle of blood. The corrupted plant seemed to grow stronger as it preyed on Darko's blood. Sophia felt sick as she Realized Hex had used corrupted life magic.

Darko's corpse rapidly became a home to Hex's thorn plants. Hex smirked at the plants, and then sent a wave of dark magic at them. The plants shrieked as they turned to stone, and they were quickly obliterated.

"It is done!" Hex growled.

"What have you done?" Sophia gasped.

"I've done something that should've been done a long time ago. I've killed Darko. I have finally completed my quest."

"Was it worth it Hex? Your soul is lost to the darkness now…. Was your vendetta against Darko really worth it? Sophia asked.

"Even after this journey, you still don't understand… my soul was lost to the darkness the moment I was born. The same goes to you and Flameslinger. Everyone looses there soul to the darkness Sophia, nothing changes that…" Hex's voice dripped with bitter sorrow. She also sounded quite strained. Sophia figured that the dark magic was taking its toll on her.

Sophia knew there was no way to argue with Hex, so she decided to agree with her partway.

"Your right about everyone being born to darkness, and loosing there soul to it. But there is a way for people to see the light again… there is always hope for people who want to change for the better.

Hex looked hesitant for a moment, and tears fell from her eyes. She then responded to Sophia.

"But there was no hope for my little sister. There was no hope for Darko. You heard what he did to me and Cynder, and you sure as hell know what he did to you. Look where he got in his life!" Hex shrieked pointing to where Darko's bloodied remains lie.

Sophia suddenly understood that Hex had never wanted to kill Darko, Hex had simply felt tormented by Darko's betrayal, and thought that killing Darko was a way to stop her agony.

"You loved Darko didn't you? His betrayal destroyed you, and you thought the only way to stop the pain was by destroying him…"

"Shut up!" Hex snapped.

"But did it help you Hex? Do you feel any lighter now that Darko is dead?"

"SHUT UP!" Hex roared. With those words she sent a wave of dark magic at Sophia.

"Sophia! Run!" Flameslinger cried out.

Sophia stood still, and a shield of light surrounded her. The dark magic got repelled and was sent flying at Hex.

Hex fell to the floor, trembling. Tears fell from her eyes as she shouted "I loved him alright! Was it so wrong? And it was it so wrong to seek revenge against him for betraying me?"

"You have rights to your emotions Hex, but the way you killed Darko was wrong."

Hex froze as she heard those words, and she stumbled to her feet, she then blasted Sophia with a wave of dark magic. Sophia who was caught unprepared by the attack flew in to a shadowy wall. Her mind spun, and she was dimly of Flameslinger calling her name. The last thing she heard was Hex falling to the floor, and then she blacked out.


	13. Chapter 13

When Sophia awoke she found herself in a strange grassy field. She looked up to see a bright blue sky suspended above her, and soft glowing sun shed its rays on her. The grass felt like feather to Sophia, and when she sat up she turned to see the field was covered in dandelions. Sophia wondered if she had died and gone to heaven.

Sophia looked around; trying to find any creatures she could talk to. She was surprised to see a floating island close to the field that she sat in, and even more surprised to see Hex laying in the field.

"Hex!" Sophia called to the undead sorceress.

"Sophia… what are you doing here?" Hex asked.

Sophia went limp with relief as she realized Hex didn't remember the fight they had gotten in to.

"I don't know. But maybe we should try to find a way out so we could fight Darko." Sophia said.

Hex scowled at Sophia and said, "Don't be stupid! Darko is dead!"

Sophia felt the ground shake beneath her as she realized Hex did remember the fight.

"How did he die?" Sophia asked weakly.

"I killed him…" Hex responded, curling up in the field she sat in.

"Are we dead?" Sophia asked.

"Meh, who knows? I would say that were in heaven, but that can't be right considering I belong in hell." Hex replied.

Sophia scowled and snapped at Hex.

"Don't be so angsty! You know you're not the only one with problems in the world!"

"Yeah, can you shut up so I can sleep…"

"Hex we're not going to get out of this place if we don't work together." Sophia stated.

"I'm perfectly fine with that, it's so beautiful up here…" Hex replied.

Sophia shook her head, and tried to run to the field that Hex sat in.

"I'm gonna get you!" Sophia called to her.

"Don't! You'll fall!" Hex called down.

Sophia leapt off the edge of the floating island she stood on, and sunk her blades in to the island Hex was at. Hex ran to Sophia and pulled her to the top of the island she sat.

"Do you ever look before you leap?" Hex snapped at Sophia.

"Only when there is danger around. But there's no sign of danger here."

"You could have fallen." Hex replied.

"Not really. I was able to sink my blade in to the ground so I could climb up." Sophia explained.

"Despite being a life skylander, you sure suck at self preservation. "

"So what. You aren't too good at self preservation either considering you're an undead skylander." Sophia responded.

"Hex stared at Sophia with grief in her eyes; she then said "Well it is what it is…"

"We should find our friends and tell them that Darko is dead. Cynder deserves to know what happened to him considering that she's going insane from a desire to fight him."

"Good point, but how do we get out of here…" Hex asked.

"Maybe we should climb the islands, and try to find a portal that could take us home." Sophia suggested.

"Okay." Hex replied.

The duo began to scan the islands they stood on, and began leaping on to any other islands that happened to float by. Sophia smiled as she felt the wind blow through her hair and as the dandelion seeds flew away. Sophia turned to see Hex leaping after her; the undead sorceress was smiling as well. The duo continued to ascend higher in to the sky as if they were birds.

They stopped to rest on an island, and felt pleasure run through them as they saw a large portal glowing above them. The portal had a soft yellow coloration to it and blue stars shimmered by it.

"Look Hex! Were almost free!" Sophia cried out.

"Why don't you continue on and join your friends?" Hex asked her companion.

"You want to move on already?" Sophia asked.

Hex shook her head no. Hex elaborated when she saw Sophia's confused expression.

"There's nothing left for me there Sophia. I've taken my revenge against Darko and he'll stop terrorizing the land. I don't want to be in a land that was once haunted by Darko, it would stir up to many painful memories. It's pretty here and I wish to remain in solitude." Hex explained.

"But, there are people who are there for you. Cynder and Gristine would miss you, and I would to…"

"Wait… you would miss me?" Hex asked.

"I'm sorry Hex, I was wrong to have distrusted you for so long. When I learned what you had been through, I guess I realized I had disliked you for no good reason. If you ever need a friend I would be glad to talk to you."

Hex stared at Sophia for a moment and didn't respond, and then she said, "I would be glad to be your friend."

Sophia smiled at Hex and then said "Are you coming?"

Hex nodded, and the two girls leapt through the portal.

When Hex awoke she found herself chained to a stone wall. She looked around and saw water dripping a crack in the ceiling, she then began to hyperventilate. Hex wondered if she was back in the Underworld again.

"Don't worry Hex. You'll be fine." A voice called out.

Hex took a moment to realize that Cynder was talking to her.

"Where am I?" Hex asked her voice hoarse with fear.

"You're in the skylands jail. You were put on trial for attacking Flameslinger and Sophia."

"Oh God… what have I done?" Hex asked, her voice trembling. Darko was dead because she killed him, and Sophia could be dead as well.

"You need to calm down Hex. Master Eon will see that you aren't unjustly punished." Cynder explained.

Tears came to Hex's eyes as she asked "How long will I be down here?"

"Until master Eon has you brought before the skylanders so you can face your sentence." Cynder replied.

Hex's head drooped as she heard this. She had come so far in her life, and battled Darko for so long. She couldn't believe this was what her life amounted to. Maybe she was right when she said there was always darkness. She sure couldn't see any light right now.

There was the sound of a door grating against the floor, and Gristine walked in, a set of keys in his hand. He unlocked the cage Hex was in and spoke to her.

"Come on, Master Eon will see you now."

Hex felt her stomach churn unpleasantly as she followed Gristine out. Cynder followed behind them.

The three undead skylanders marched over to where the shade tree was. Hex found it appallingly fitting to be punished here, considering this is where Darko stood before he was exiled.

"Come here Hex…" Eon called to her.

Hex trembled as she walked towards her master. She could only pray that he would show her some mercy and kill her, or at the very least exile her. She just didn't want to be sent back in to the prison she had been released from.

"Hex, you stand here today because you attacked two of your fellow skylanders. This is a crime that can not simply be overlooked." Eon stated.

Everything inside Hex broke down in that moment. She fell to the floor sobbing. She no longer cared if anyone saw her cry. She no longer cared what anyone thought of her. All she cared about at that moment was that she didn't go to prison.

"Please don't send me back to the prison! I understand what I did was wrong! I shouldn't have attacked Sophia! Punish me however you want, but please don't throw me back in to the prison!" Hex wailed.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder, and turned to see Eon looking down at her.

"I won't be the one to give you your punishment Hex, Sophia will." Eon said.

Hex looked out in to the crowed and noticed Sophia looking at her. The elf wore her arm in a sling, and there were many scratches on her face and hands, but other then that she was okay.

"What do you think we should do to Hex?" Eon asked Sophia.

"She shouldn't be punished. She knows what she did was wrong, and it wasn't her fault that she used to much dark magic. It was Darko's fault. And with all do respect Master Eon; she did save us by destroying Darko." Sophia stated.

Hex stared in shock at Sophia, she had nearly killed the girl, and yet the elf still told Eon to let her go free. Hex felt shame tear at her like a knife.

"Very well then, skylanders you are dismissed!" Eon stated.

All the skylanders left the shade tree except for Sophia and Hex.

"Why did you tell him not to punish me?" Hex asked needing to know why the girl hadn't condemned her.

"I told you that I wanted to be your friend Hex, and friends don't just throw other friends under the bus." Sophia responded.

"Thanks…" Hex whispered.

"No problem, what are friends for after all? Do you want to hang out with Flameslinger and I?"

Hex hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I would love to, but there's something I have to do first. Cynder is still having trouble turning back to normal, and I have on idea on how to help her. "

"Okay, take care!" Sophia said before running off to join Flameslinger.

Once again the realization of Darko's death struck Hex, and she wanted to do something to honor him for some reason. After all this time, she still saw Darko as a friend.

"Here I am, standing before you, the past is haunting me, but still I feel no pain…. Rest now Darko, forgive me for my faults, I know that you are dead and gone and still you remain beside me… fly away, look upon the angels… hear your name, and know that you were loved, I understand that kindness has no place to you, and yet I will be kind. Fare well my friend, fare well my companion, fly upon the majestic sky, oh great creature of wonder…" Hex sang.

Tears came to her eyes as she sung the lament, but she knew that she would get through this, after all she had survived Darko's numerous attacks on her. Hex had no clue where Darko's spirit had gone off to, yet even after all that had happened; she prayed he was in a plain of peace. Hex sighed once, and then drifted home.

Authors note: Yeah this chapter was really bad, much like the last chapter. Many apologies for that….


	14. Chapter 14

Five months have passed since the battle with Darko. Cynder finally turned back to normal, thanks to the Light lily potion Gristine gave to her. Flameslinger and Sophia married each other, Hex finally got over mourning Darko, and she stopped with her irritating angst…

Cynder stopped writing in her journal as she turned to see an angry Hex glaring down at her.

"What, you know that your complaining was annoying." Cynder said.

"Yeah you're right…. But I still don't appreciate you writing that down." Hex responded.

"It's my journal! I can write whatever I want!" Cynder responded.

"Settle down ladies, we don't want to watch you two have a cat fight with each other." Flameslinger said.

"Shut up Lameslinger!" Hex and Cynder shouted in unison.

"Don't be mean." Sophia told her two friends.

"Meh." Hex replied.

"Whatever." Cynder sighed.

There lovely conversation was cut off as Camo walked by them carrying a plate of fruit punch on his back.

"Here's the fruit punch you ordered." Camo said.

"Thanks!" the four skylanders replied.

Hex sipped her fruit punch in contentment, happy that Darko was gone, and that her life finally began."

Authors notes: my attempt at humor to make up for the anticlimactic final fight with Darko, and the over all failure of this story. Yeah hopefully my next story will be better… see you then!


End file.
